The presence of Spanish Civil Guard agents in French territory yesterday to try to catch Catalan president Carles Puigdemont should he try to return to Spain is causing unease and protests, French media report.
Radio station France Bleu has given details on its website, saying that a number of French drivers report Civil Guard units carrying out checks to try and find Puigdemont hundreds of metres inside France. "200 metres [219 yards] from the border, we saw a Civil Guard vehicle. Armed police stopped and checked us. And they checked whether we were carrying anyone in the boot", said a resident of Prats-de-Mollo, whose daughter later took pictures of the agents with her mobile.
The mayor of Prats-de-Mollo, Claude Ferrer, denounced the reports to France Bleu Roussillon as "completely abnormal". "We cannot accept French drivers who are going for a drive, without leaving French territory, being searched by the Spanish, and suspected of hiding Carles Puigdemont in their boot".
The police are only authorised to cross the frontier in very limited circumstances, pursuing a flagrant crime or for a justified terrorist alert. It's the first time such a situation has taken place around a police road checkpoint.