Catalan MEPs and exiled government ministers Clara Ponsatí and Toni Comín have both returned to Northern Catalonia in recent days, taking advantage of the August break. Their arrival has once again shown up that the free movement which is a guaranteed right in Europe would be impossible in Spain, because if they entered the state they would be arrested. As the old tourism slogan once put it, Spain is different. Ponsatí described some of the difference with her observation that "respectful and independent justice" begins once you are north of the Pyrenees.
The minister is spending a few days on holiday with her family, according to the local Catalan-language broadcaster Ràdio Arrels. "I'm spending my holidays here in Perpinyà and the surrounding area, because it's my country and because my family and friends can come and see me here. I'm having a complete immersion course in Northern Catalonia and I'm really enjoying it," she explained.
The minister acknowledged that she was previously familiar with some parts of the north - the upland Alta Cerdanya, and Cotllioure on the coast - but had not had "long stays" there.
Ponsatí told Ràdio Arrels how she was confident that last week's Belgian court ruling on fellow Catalan exile Lluís Puig, asserting that the Spanish Supreme Court was not competent to issue a European arrest warrant for him, will influence the extradition hearings for the other former Catalan government members who are now MEPs, Comín, Carles Puigdemont, and potentially herself. "It is the same Belgian judge who would have to analyze the case, should it reach him," she said.
"Justice that is independent and respectful of human rights begins above the Pyrenees," she said. In her view, the events surrounding the flight of Juan Carlos I show that "the regime of 1978 is in absolute decadence."
For his part, former Catalan health minister Toni Comín has also spent a few days in Perpinyà and yesterday took part in the so-called Solidarity Hour in support of the Catalan political prisoners and exiles. "After 1,000 days of exile, when we are here we feel quite at home," he said, thanking northern Catalans for their support. “Being here is already being at home, and that’s priceless,” he added.
The third of the trio of Catalan MEPs in exile, president Carles Puigdemont, also plans to visit Northern Catalonia on August 21st to give a lecture at the annual Catalan Summer University (UCE) in the town of Prada de Conflent.
The French prefecture responsible for Prada de Conflent has warned the UCE organizers that, because of the coronavirus, this year's summer campus debates and lectures must not generate any gatherings of people. It will set up checkpoints to prevent this from happening, it says. The authorities want the summer university to be a strictly-online event this year, and the organizers have accepted this.