Madrid first, then the border

Toni Comín, the former Catalan councillor elected to the European Parliament for Junts, will travel to Madrid on Thursday, 22 October, to appear before the Junta Electoral Central (JEC). The board has summoned him for 12:00 to take the oath or promise to respect the Constitution, a step he must complete before he can collect his credential as an MEP. He plans to travel from France without passing through Catalonia, so the Madrid visit will come before his return to Catalan soil. Comín has lived in Belgium since leaving Spain nine years ago to avoid arrest.

Walking back on 25 October

Comín had first announced that he would walk back across the border on Saturday, 24 October. According to El Periódico, the plan has moved to Sunday, 25 October, when he intends to cross at 12:00 on foot through a mountain pass that links northern and southern Catalonia. He describes the walk as a simple outing of under an hour, and he will keep his residence in the Belgian city of Leuven after receiving his credential. In an interview with TV3, he tied the end of his exile to that crossing.

“My exile ends on the 25th, the day I return to my country.”

Comín said he had also visited other European capitals during his exile, including Paris, Rome and Amsterdam, and that a trip to Madrid does not end it. The JEC had asked him to respect a date set on the previous Friday, and he had asked the board to postpone the appointment to the following week. The board kept Thursday, which led him to bring his plans forward.

Dispute with the electoral board

Comín said the summons was the reason he changed his timetable, and he chose to go to Madrid rather than risk a missed appearance. He accuses the board of having made every effort to keep him, Carles Puigdemont and Clara Ponsatí from taking their seats in the previous European term. In the same interview he said the board had set the date to trap him after he announced his return for the coming weekend.

“The Electoral Board has tried to set a trap for me.”

Investigating judge Pablo Llarena has confirmed that he is definitively lifting the arrest warrant against Comín, Puigdemont and Lluís Puig, replacing a provisional order issued earlier. Comín argues that the change of date does not alter the account of his return, which he still presents as a return from exile to Catalonia.

What comes next

Comín's return is set to come before that of Carles Puigdemont, whom he says should receive an institutional homecoming with full honours at the Parlament. He does not plan to wait for the general elections on 29 November, arguing that his duties in the European Parliament require him to take up the seat now. He wants to use the Parliament to press the case for the legitimacy of the referendum with European audiences.

Thursday's appearance at 12:00 in Madrid will be the first formal step, followed by the Sunday crossing at the same hour.