The former minister of the Generalitat Lluís Puig (Junts) revealed this Wednesday that he has been in Catalonia on several occasions during the 9 years he has lived outside Spain after 1-O. He explained that he has set foot on “lands of Ripollès, Garrotxa and Empordà,” although he has done so “discreetly.”
Puig points out that the simple act of crossing a territorial line has not generated a special feeling for him, and he has defended that the border, in many places, is merely a physical element linked to fences for the passage of livestock. “To say that Catalunya Nord is Catalonia is very true,” he stressed.
Likewise, he insisted that he did not carry out “specific acts or activities” in Catalonia, and that in all this time, he has not approached his home. In addition, he stressed that nature “is very open, it has no lines,” in reference to these discreet movements.
The episode at the Col de Ares with the Flama de Sant Joan
Puig also recounted an episode that occurred two years ago at the Col de Ares (France), on the border with Catalonia, coinciding with the arrival of the Flama de Sant Joan. According to his version, at that moment a patrol of the Mossos d'Esquadra arrived when he was already on the Catalan side.
“There is no border closure, but there the asphalt changes color on the road. Chatting and walking with people, I was hundreds of meters on the side of the color where they could pursue me and a Mossos car arrived, which I think did not see me. And calmly I walked back towards the color of the asphalt that was more friendly to me,” he recounted.
His return, the Parliament and institutional respect
After showing his joy at the decision of the Constitutional Court, Lluís Puig warned that this movement does not mean “the end of anything” and stated that he does not believe he will return immediately to Catalonia when he can do so, not even if the return of the former president of the Generalitat and leader of Junts, Carles Puigdemont, occurs earlier.
“Surely we have different tempos and speeds,” Puig stressed, insisting that he wants to return calmly, taking into account the plans, projects and relationships he has consolidated during these 9 years.
The former minister also claims that he wants to sit in his seat in the Parliament as a Junts deputy and “remove the yellow ribbon that my colleagues, scrupulously, place for me in the plenary hall.” “I want to fulfill this democratic mandate,” he stated.
Puig added that, when he enters the Parliament, he will greet the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, because “he is the president of Catalonia” and defended that “this human fact is above all, and of course institutional respect.”