Catalan separatist ex-leader Carles Puigdemont is wanted in Barcelona.
The Mossos d’Esquadra – Catalan police – set up roadblocks into Barcelona as part of Operation Jaula – or “cage” – to find Mr Puigdemont, who left the rally by car this morning to head out of the city.
He has lived in Brussels for the past several years after police indicted him on charges related to the failed Catalan independence bid in 2017.
At the time, Catalonia’s pro-independence leaders, including Mr Puigdemont, organized a referendum – which was ruled illegal by Spain’s constitutional court – and then declared independence for the region. Madrid soon imposed direct rule in the region and Mr Puigdemont fled to Belgium.
On Thursday morning, Mr Puigdemont briefly addressed hundreds of supporters gathered near the Catalan parliament in Barcelona.
He said he had come back “to remind you that we are still here”, adding that “referendum is not a crime and will never be a crime.”
Mr Puigdemont has since disappeared.
Many expected him to enter the Parliament building for the swearing-in ceremony at 10:00 (08:00 GMT), but he was nowhere to be seen.
Roadblocks are now in place across the city, Catalonia’s interior spokesman said in a statement.
Spanish television also showed images from La Jonquera, a municipality on the border with France, where police could be seen stopping cars and checking boots.
Aleix Sarri, a Puidgemont ally, criticized the police action in X: “Hundreds of police surrounded Barcelona to arrest President Puigdemont. A hunt with public money to please the powers that be in Madrid. This is not what democracy does.”
Police reportedly used pepper spray to disperse Puigdemont supporters gathered near parliament.
Ignacio Garriga of the far-right Vox party, which strongly opposes Catalonia’s independence, said “Vox will do whatever is necessary to ensure Puigdemont’s arrest.”
Some Spanish commentators are puzzled by the police’s failure to arrest Mr Puigdemont, despite announcing earlier this week that he would return to Catalonia.
On Wednesday, he posted a video on X saying he had “begun his return journey from exile” and that his arrest was illegal and arbitrary.
There appear to be several motives behind Carles Puigdemont’s return to Spain.
First, he wants to pressure officials to apply The country’s new amnesty law – It withdraws legal action against Catalan nationalists – For him, after the Supreme Court excluded him from its application on technical grounds.
He also aims to disrupt today’s inauguration of socialist Salvador Illa as the new Catalan president.
The former Spanish health minister is the region’s first non-nationalist leader since 2010.
Equally important for Mr Puigdemont is asserting himself and his Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) party as the main pro-independence force.
He is keen to show that his separatist rival, the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), is complicit with Spanish unionism.
The ERC is still in charge of the Catalan police force until a new local government is in place, making the former regional president’s visit particularly uncomfortable for the party.
