Spain’s constitutional court is anticipated to remove the final hurdle preventing the return of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont this week. Puigdemont departed in 2017 to avoid potential imprisonment related to the failed and illegal independence movement.
The court is scheduled to rule on 6 October regarding whether the charge of misuse of public funds falls under the amnesty law passed by the Spanish government in 2024. The region has been governed by the Socialists’ party of Catalonia (PSC) since 2024.
The PSC, which is headed by Salvador Illa, has initiated a period of cooperation with Madrid. Junts per Catalunya voted against the government’s progressive housing proposals on Friday.
Demographics show that 82% of Catalonia’s residents aged 18 to 30 still reside with their parents. Furthermore, the proportion of foreign-born people in the Catalan population rose from 13.8% when Puigdemont left to 18.7% currently.
In Barcelona, immigrants representing 118 nationalities constitute 32% of the residents. The immigrant population within Barcelona's 12 to 35 age bracket now reaches 50%.
Support for independence currently remains in the low 40s.
