After the incident in Sardinia, it is clear that Carles Puigdemont continues, and will continue, to be the reference point for the Catalan pro-independence resistance. And that until the issue of the Catalan exiles is resolved, the wound between Catalonia and Spain will remain open and, like the La Palma volcano, will sporadically burst into eruption depending on the circumstances.
Only a dignified exit for the president, who was democratically elected and then dismissed through the use of distorted legislation, will make it possible to gradually restore the unconflicted political normalcy sought by the Socialists and ERC and which much of Catalan society longs for.
However, the most interesting and/or alarming aspect that the events in L'Alguer reveal is the extent to which the judicial bunker is willing to use Puigdemont, or whoever it can, to bring down the coalition government formed by the PSOE and Unidas Podemos. It seems as if the deep state is aiming to bring about the traumatic collapse of the current executive given the difficulty of the increasingly extreme Spanish right to gain power democratically.
Indeed, at present Carles Puigdemont is a major destabilizing factor in Spanish politics and there are many who have an interest in taking advantage of that. Undoubtedly, the person who had the greatest shock - who know, maybe even a panic attack - when the news arrived of president Puigdemont's arrest in Sardinia, was the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. I am sorry to contradict the Right Honourable [Catalan president], but from any point of view the head of the Spanish executive is at this moment the person who is least interested in Puigdemont being handed over to Spanish justice. A final decision to take him into custody - without mentioning extradition - would blow the Spanish legislature to smithereens... and it's still all possible.
Carles Puigdemont is a major destabilizing factor in Spanish politics and the Deep State wants to use him not only because of its repressive mania, but also, to bring down the PSOE-Unidas Podemos government
Everyone knows that with Puigdemont arrested or extradited, the mobilizations and protests in Catalonia would prevent the PSOE and ERC from maintaining their commitment to cool the conflict of the independence process. ERC would not be able to justify supporting the Spanish government budget and Pedro Sánchez would lose the parliamentary majority he needs to maintain the legislature. In Catalonia, ERC would have its work cut out to ensure the continuity of the Aragonès government and the pro-independence parliamentary majority, without much chance of success, given the predisposition of the pro-independence groups to bump each other off over any minor matter.
In the Spanish context, it goes without saying that the right and the far right would go on the offensive against the Socialists, disguising their move as an anti-Catalan crusade, that is, treating the PSOE as traitors to the homeland, and the judiciary would continue to follow its roadmap of lawfare even more euphorically. All of these are ingredients that would, in an atmosphere of collective hysteria, facilitate a far-right majority in Spain and the convulsion that would follow, which is just what is wanted by the supporters of "The worse things get, the better".
All this won't happen if on October 4th the judge in Sardinia avoids ruling on the extradition of the exiled Catalan president, confirming that he has immunity from prosecution when he is carrying out his role as an MEP. However, anything can happen between now and October 4th, and the battle will be fought by the Spanish Supreme Court against the government of Pedro Sánchez. It is not presumptuous to describe it as an institutional crisis without precedents.
The fact that the Spanish government does not want anything to do with a Puigdemont arrest is shown by the fact that it was the Spanish state solicitors' office that informed the European General Court that the arrest warrant against Puigdemont had been suspended, when, in fact, the act of suspensing the warrant corresponds to the judge who issued it, the ineffable Pablo Llarena.
Needless to say, once Puigdemont's trip to L'Alguer was announced, it was natural that the Supreme Court and the Spanish police, in their role as judicial police, got things moving and warned their Italian counterparts, without the interior ministry being able to do anything to prevent the arrest. It is obvious that some want to catch Puigdemont not only because of their repressive mania but also because of the consequences it would have on Spanish politics - while others have no interest in it for the same reasons.
However, due to the fact that between now and October 4th the situation will have to be clarified, we will witness in two scenarios - the Court of Sassari, in Sardinia, and the General Court of the European Union, in Luxembourg - a spectacular battle between the Spanish Supreme Court, in belligerent attitude, and a Spanish government not wanting to know about it. There will be accusations and counter-accusations to give rise to the umpteenth Spanish ridicule. And the political pandemonium will erupt resoundingly.