Thousands protest after ex-Catalan leader detained
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Barcelona this afternoon to protest after the former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont was detained in Germany.
The police were acting on an international arrest warrant issued by Spain.
He is due to appear before a German judge tomorrow.
It is not clear if Mr Puigdemont will be extradited from Germany.
He had made clear his preference to fight the extradition process from Belgium.
"The president was going to Belgium to put himself, as always, at the disposal of Belgian justice," Joan Maria Pique, Mr Puigdemont's spokesman said.
Mr Puigdemont went into self-imposed exile in Belgium last year, shortly after the Catalan parliament made a symbolic declaration of independence from Spain.
Mr Puigdemont had entered Germany from Denmark after leaving Finland on Friday when it appeared police would arrest him there and launch an extradition process requested by Spain.
German police said they had arrested Mr Puigdemont in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein.
In a statement, police said Mr Puigdemont was detained near a section of the A7 motorway, which cuts through the state from the city of Flensburg near the Danish border.
Police did not say exactly where Mr Puigdemont was being held in custody.
Thousands of people, many carrying Catalan separatist flags, demonstrated in Barcelona today.
They chanted "Puigdemont our president" and "Freedom for the political prisoners", as they made their way from the city's main boulevard, Las Ramblas, to the offices of the European Commission in the Catalan capital.
Today's arrest threatens to worsen the Catalan crisis which flared last year when the region made a symbolic declaration of independence, prompting Madrid to take direct rule.
Mr Puigdemont faces up to 25 years in prison in Spain on charges of rebellion and sedition for organising an illegal referendum for Catalonia that led to a unilateral declaration of independence in October.
The detention threatens to worsen the Catalan crisis which flared last year when the region made a symbolic declaration of independence, prompting Madrid to take direct rule.
On Friday Spanish Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena ruled that 25 Catalan separatist politicians would face charges of rebellion, embezzlement and disobeying the state for their roles in organising the vote on secession.
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