The Spanish Supreme Court ruled that Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia's former president, can return to Spain without risk of arrest, lifting an outstanding warrant linked to the 2017 referendum. The decision ends a long legal clash with Madrid, set against a backdrop of changing Catalan politics where independence has become marginal. A broader amnesty in 2024 excluded Puigdemont from pardons, while the Constitutional Court recently overruled that interpretation, enabling his potential return.