When reports suggested that Carles Puigdemont had moved to the Belgian town of Waterloo, satirists were not quick to miss the joke.
A cartoon in Belgium’s main francophone daily, Le Soir, showed the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, smiling and waving his nation’s flag as Catalonia’s former president unpacks his boxes outside a suburban house. “It’s only the start,” read Rajoy’s speech bubble. “After this, Saint Helena!”
The town is close to the site of Napoleon’s last stand before banishment to the remote Atlantic island. The Catalan leader arrived last October to avoid jail after his unilateral declaration of independence deepened the region’s political crisis.
More than four months into his self-imposed exile, Puigdemont has now suffered an unmistakable defeat on the political battlefield. He announced on Thursday that he was abandoning his attempt to return to the presidency in place of a jailed colleague.
His arrival in the suburban town was first reported by the Belgian daily L’Echo, which said he had moved into a six-bedroom, €4,400 a month (£3,900 a month) villa. In a surprisingly candid statement, the mayor of Waterloo, Florence Reuter, said police and neighbours had informed local authorities of his arrival at the address, although Puigdemont has never confirmed this.
Since he came to Belgium, Puigdemont has been everywhere and nowhere. His occasional appearances – a night at the opera, a walk in the woods or a haircut – have become mini media events. In the ultimate backhanded compliment, a Puigdemont lookalike featured at the recent Aalst winter carnival.
Philippe Roselle, a 62-year-old Waterloo resident walking his dog, says he is not really surprised the exiled Catalan leader chose to live in the town. “There are other personalities here,” he says, citing an Uzbek oligarch, artists, sports stars and the town’s many foreigners, who make up a fifth of the population of 30,000. “It is a very nice town, the streets are large and well kept.” Waterloo is also a place with a “certain social cohesion”, he says, where people are friendly.
That sentiment is echoed at a local tapas bar, L’Accent Catalan, a 20-minute walk if Puigdemont hankered for a taste of home. Mikaël Fernandez, the owner, says he would be happy to welcome the exiled leader, although he disagrees with the cause. “I am not in favour of independence,” says the dual French-Spanish national whose grandparents fled Francisco Franco’s repression. But he thinks the Spanish government has made serious mistakes and hopes it will show more flexibility.
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
