Catalan Exiles are Spreading Out

There are now Catalan political leaders living in exile in three different countries within the E.U. Until recently there were five living in Belgium: President Puigdemont and four of his ministers. A couple of weeks ago Anna Gabriel, a member of the Catalan parliament, refused to appear in court to answer to charges of rebellion and sedition and went to Geneva. Now Clara Ponsatí, one of the four ministers who had been in Brussels since October, has gone to Scotland to resume her position as a professor of economics at the University of Saint Andrews.

Ponsatí was the minister of education in the last Catalan government.  She says that her colleagues in Scotland are shocked that she has been facing charges of rebellion and sedition with the possibility of a 30-year prison sentence in Spain. For one thing, because they know her well, and for another, because rebellion and sedition do not exist as crimes in Great Britain. Then there is the fact that the British government agreed to Scotland voting on the same kind of referendum that Spain says is illegal for the Catalans and for which Catalans are being imprisoned, without trial.

She also says that she will continue to work for Catalan independence. Now there will be a voice in Great Britain to add to the others in Belgium and Switzerland.