Politics of Catalonia

 Deposed Catalan leader Carlos Puigdemont said on Tuesday that he would "run the risk" of going back to Spain if he won the election in Catalonia on the 21st of December next, Brussels Times reported.Puigdemont also described the arrest warrant issued against him by the Spanish authorities as a "fantasy".

Spain's Supreme Court said it had withdrawn the international arrest warrant for former Catalunya leader Carles Puigdemont and four cabinet ministers, indicating that politicians have shown readiness to return to Spain, AFP reports.

Catalonia faces a crucial election on December 21 that will determine whether Spain is on-course to tackle the northeastern region's independence push — its gravest political crisis in the past four decades — or be mired in uncertainty for months or years.

The judge of the Spanish Supreme Court, Pablo Lerna, has ordered today to be detained the deputy prime minister of Catalonia, Oriol Junqueras, and three other indictees in connection with the attempt to separate the autonomous region.

This was announced by the court, the France press and Associated Press reported.

After their failed independence bid, which saw leaders being detained or fleeing abroad, Catalan separatists head into a new election this month divided over the future of their region but united against what they say is "repression" from Madrid.

According o the poll published by the daily El Pais, 24 percent of Catalans favor independence after the early election, while 71 percent prefer an agreement with Madrid.

AP is reporting that El Pais used Metroscopia pollster which questioned 1,800 people by telephone November 20-22.

Barely a quarter of Catalans want to continue with a plan to claim independence from Spain in the wake of Dec. 21 regional elections, according to a poll published in El Pais newspaper on Nov. 27.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Nov. 11 he wanted to return to a “democratic and free” Catalonia as he aimed to rally support for a unified Spain on his first visit to the turbulent region since it declared independence.

Sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has lashed out against the European Union (EU) over its response to the Catalan crisis, in which Brussels sided with Madrid in suppressing the independence drive of the region.

Spain's Supreme Court has decided that the chairman of the Catalan Parliament, Carme Forcadelll, will be released on bail of 150,000 euros. The 58-year-old Forcadell, is under investigation about her role in proclaiming the independence of Catalonia.