Puigdemont refuses to return to Spain unless he receives government guarantees

FORMER Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has said he refuses to return to Spain unless the government in Madrid guarantees that the upcoming elections in Catalunya will be unimpeded. 

Spain’s supreme court withdrew the European arrest warrant earlier this week but the national warrant still stands spurring fears that Puigdemont will be arrested if he returns.

Mr Puigdemont, who insists that he will take again office as president if re-elected, said: “We demand guarantees in order that the next elections will be normal. Is it normal elections when two candidates for the presidency one is in jail and the other in exile? Don’t forget these elections are not normal.”