The fugitive and self-exiled Catalan politician Carles Puigdemont has been formally proposed as the leader of a new government by the speaker of the Catalan parliament.
Mr Puigdemont has been residing in Belgium, where he is avoiding arrest for charges of rebellion, sedition, and misuse of public funds related to Catalonia's independence referendum and declaration last year.
It is unclear whether Mr Puigdemont will be able to form a government because his opponents say he must attend a sitting of the parliament in person to become leader. He has said he will not return to Catalonia until he has been given "guarantees" that he will not be arrested.
Catalan Parliament Speaker Roger Torrent says that Mr Puigdemont is the only candidate with enough backing to attempt to form a government, however.
On Monday the would-be president travelled to Copenhagen, his first visit outside Belgium since his self-imposed exile began, to speak at a university lecture.
The Spanish state prosecution service has said they will try and seek Mr Puigdemont's arrest if he travelled to Denmark to host the talk.
The Spanish supreme court had previously issued a European Arrest Warrant for the politician when he was in Belgium, but withdrew it in December to avoid the risk of the Belgian government granting him asylum. Mr Puigdemont and the Catalan independence movement in general have allies in Belgium, where some political parties support the the secession of Flanders.
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31/45 22 December 2017
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The Spanish government late last year dissolved the Catalan home rule administration and imposed direct rule from Madrid on the province after moves towards independence by its separatist government.
Following new elections in December an alliance of pro-independence parties however won a majority again – albeit a narrower one than before.
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