Carles Puigdemont
Credit: Vilanova i la Geltrú, CC BY-ND 2.0

Mr Puigdemont is wanted by Spanish prosecutors for sedition after organising an independence referendum in defiance of the Spanish courts and subsequently declaring independence.

The Spanish crackdown on the Catalan “independentists” saw a number of former government ministers and prominent campaigners jailed while those who fled the country were subject to extradition proceedings.

However, Spain’s new centre-left government moved to defuse tensions this summer by issuing partial pardons to nine independence leaders who had been sentenced to prison terms between nine and 13 years.

Mr Puigdemont has lived in Belgium since the referendum and was elected as a member of the European Parliament in 2019.

He was travelling to Sardinia to attend a Catalan festival and meet the leader of Sardinia’s autonomous government when he was arrested by Italian police, who were waiting for him in the airport, Catalan News reports.

He is expected to appear in court today, where his lawyers will argue against his extradition to Spain.