Puigdemont to step aside as Junts president

The former Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, announced on Tuesday that he will not continue as the leader of the political party Junts per Catalunya (JxCat).

Puigdemont, currently living in Belgium after he left Catalonia in October 2017, will not take part in the party congress scheduled for June 4.

"I will not submit my application to become the party president again," Carles Puigdemont wrote in a letter sent to members of Junts. He believes that the president should be "more involved" and constantly take part in executive meetings.

However, he will "feel honored to say goodbye in person" as the Congress will be held in Catalunya Nord, in France, Puigdemont added.

That the person who was president of Catalonia for the 2017 independence push is now stepping aside as one of the main figureheads of one of the two largest pro-independence parties will mean the independence movement will be headed into a new era this summer. 

Junts per Catalunya, political heirs of the former Convergència party, came behind ERC in the last Catalan election, held in February 2021. This was the first time since democracy was returned to Spain that ERC finished as the most popular pro-independence party.