Puigdemont makes surprise appearance at Casa Macià opening in Prats de Molló

A former plotting house reopens

The former Villa Denise in Prats de Molló, a village in the Catalunya del Nord, opened to the public on Sunday, 8 November, under the name Casa Macià. The house is where former Generalitat president Lluís Companys planned a plot in 1926 to overthrow Primo de Rivera's dictatorship and proclaim a Catalan Republic. Restoration took almost six years and was carried out by about a hundred volunteers. Organizers said about 500 people attended the inauguration. The Casa Macià is described as an interpretation centre devoted to historical memory, run by the Fundació Casa Francesc Macià. The opening falls in the week of the centenary of the Hechos de Prats de Molló, an attempted military invasion of Catalonia from France organized by former Generalitat president Francesc Macià.

Puigdemont's surprise visit

Former Generalitat president and Junts leader Carles Puigdemont attended by surprise and joined Jordi Pujol and Pere Aragonès at the event. Prats de Molló lies about 13 kilometres from the Spanish border. The Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena withdrew the arrest warrant against Puigdemont and closed the case file opened in 2017 over the procés, a step before the court's criminal chamber applies the amnesty to him definitively. The last public event at which Puigdemont and Pujol appeared together, as far as the record shows, was a 2023 tribute to Pau Casals in Prada de Conflent. Other attendees included former Parliament president Carme Forcadell, Junts secretary general Jordi Turull, Parliament president Josep Rull and the Culture councillor Sònia Hernández.

Speeches and presentations

Parliament president Josep Rull told the audience that Catalonia would never give up its identity and collective aspirations. He argued that the defence of liberties and collective rights had too often come at a high personal price, and he called for linking northern Catalonia with the south. Rull invoked Macià to keep fighting for independence and to hold on to the 'blue triangle', the element of the estelada flag. The program included the graphic novel 'El Complot', with texts by Jordi Rodó, and the book 'Fets i gent', published by Estat Català, which features more than 116 biographies. A homage was paid to relatives of the people who accompanied Macià during the events of Prats de Molló. Lluís Puig also presented a short film of about fifteen minutes on Macià and those events, directed by Albert Naudín and narrated by actors Lluís Soler and Sílvia Bel.

Funding and leadership

Lluís Puig chairs the foundation and returned to Catalonia on 21 October after nine years on the run from Spanish justice over his inclusion in the procés case. In remarks to 3Cat, he said the centre aims to encourage research and to dynamize the territory so that this part of Catalan history becomes known. The foundation's patronage includes Puigdemont, Aragonès, Forcadell, former president Quim Torra and former councillor Àngels Ponsa. In March 2026 the foundation launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise at least 35,000 euros in forty days.