Spain's Catalonia to elect new leader as ex-leader Puigdemont's arrest looms

FILE PHOTO: Exiled Catalan separatist leader and Junts Per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia) party candidate Carles Puigdemont applauds on the day of Catalonia's regional elections, in the French town of Argeles-sur-Mer, France, May 12, 2024. REUTERS/Bruna Casas/File Photo

MADRID (Reuters) - The parliament of Spain's Catalonia region is set to elect a new leader this week, although the event may be upstaged by the return of its former leader from self-imposed exile, despite a pending warrant for his arrest.

Carles Puigdemont is the figurehead of hardline separatist party Junts, and led Catalonia between 2016 and 2017 before fleeing Spain following a referendum on independence deemed illegal by the judiciary.