Lluís Puig: "I left out of loyalty to President Puigdemont and I have maintained it until the end"

BarcelonaLluís Puig (Terrassa, 1959) has spent nine years in exile for having been part of the 1-O Government as Minister of Culture. This week he has returned home.

How did he find Catalonia?

— I found it in good condition. Everyone says it has changed a lot in nine years. What has changed is that now we are more than 8 million people and the services are the same as back then. There is less for everyone. Even back then we were saying that an economic agreement was needed. The social problem has been aggravated, not because of the independence movement, but because of an increase in the population.

You do not accept that immigrants are criminalized in this debate.

— Most obviously not. There are many business sectors that are still lacking more. And we have a good part of small towns in a worrying state of abandonment. There is a lack of more young people in farming and in other sectors.

How are services guaranteed for all these people if they are not prepared for more than 8 million people?

— Humanely, the obligation is that people can eat, school their children, and have medical assistance when they need it. This is above everything else. Whoever wants to criminalize this is completely wrong, because when an Arab from a certain country comes here with a private jet, that is not considered immigration. The problem they call immigration is an economic factor, of poverty. Wealthy immigrants are welcome and stay in luxury hotels or live in residential areas.

They have received him effusively these last few days, both in Terrassa and in Parliament.

— And also family and friends. Three different receptions. I will keep all three, because each one has a human and institutional factor.

What did you think of President Illa not being in the hemicycle when you returned to Parliament?

— I was absolutely clear that the first person I would reach out to shake hands with was the president of my country, of my Generalitat of Catalonia. He was not there, and I felt sorry, not for Lluís Puig the person, but for a member of the chamber who has tried to maintain exemplary conduct. President Illa wanted to make it public that we had a private meeting. I felt sorry that he was not there institutionally, because the private one had already taken place.

A few years ago you changed Belgium for Northern Catalonia.

— I spent a long time under precautionary measures in Belgium. They advised me not to leave because they told me they could not guarantee my rights. I was not a prisoner of leaving the country. When I had a certain legal stability and I moved, my life changed a lot because in Northern Catalonia I was able to put down roots immediately. Culturally it is a treasure: in a few kilometers of distance you can go from the beaches of the Marenda to the peaks of magnetically impressive mountains like the Canigó. A moment arrived when I no longer felt exiled, but rather a refugee from Spain with an administrative border in between.

A border that you crossed on some occasion.

— I say it jokingly, but it is actually true. There are two barbed wire fences for the cows and all these fences have gates that you open and when you have crossed, you close again. There is no border. Sometimes, often, borders are more mental than physical. And, therefore, when you walk in nature, if you have to go drink at a water spring that is 300 meters further down because you are thirsty, you go there.

Even though it is Spanish territory.

— You feel and live something that not everyone can feel and live, which is exercising freedom. When you exercise it, that adrenaline kicks in and you say: "Ah, I am free to do this because it is what I want to do now". I had never considered whether I was a free man or not. The first time I got on a plane in Belgium I was scared, but I was also exercising freedom.

Your ID or passport must have expired.

— When President Puigdemont, Ponsatí, and Comín were members of the European Parliament, they had a diplomatic passport and, therefore, they did not have any problems. I, since I did not have one, had to prepare myself to obtain the Belgian national identity document and the passport. Furthermore, the only company that flies from different small airports in Northern Catalonia and Occitania to Paris or Belgium does not let you board if your ID card is expired [he has had it expired since 2022 and already has an appointment to renew it].

Did you ever consider returning to Catalonia?

— Moments of weakness or the desire for it all to end once and for all, I had them in nine years. No matter how clear you are about the principles that have led you there, we all have a brighter day and another grayer day. I left out of loyalty to President Puigdemont and I believe I have maintained that loyalty until the end. If I had returned earlier in a strange way, with strange pacts, I think I would already regret it now.

Has he been a collateral victim of the State's persecution of President Puigdemont?

— This persecution has always focused on the figure and the name of President Puigdemont. A logical and obvious thing. For me, moreover, I have never been concerned about having more prominence, more fame, or anything else.

You left at 58 and are returning at 67, at retirement age. Was it worth it?

— The personal balance is positive. Both because I have been able to continue working for Catalan culture everywhere I could and, above all, because the volume of friendship and acquaintances and discovering places and learning things has been inexhaustible. The only thing that has pained me, obviously, is that my closest family environment has often suffered it very quietly.

Two years remain in the Catalan legislature. What will you do afterwards?

— I am clear that I do not want to consider it. I obviously want to fulfill these less than two years remaining until May 2028. To serve as a deputy as best I can. As a deputy, I am very eager to be able to go to many cultural events of associations, town halls, traditional festivals, exhibitions, shows... Obviously, I will have to reflect. If all goes well, I will be almost 69 years old, eh?

Will you participate in the general election campaign?

— I have not yet had time to evaluate it either personally or with Junts. I am a grassroots militant, I am no one to decide one way or the other at a party level. If I am to be able to help, I will try to do so. I will also tell you that Madrid feels a bit far from me. It is not that it is not important, eh? Without the politics of Junts and other parties in Madrid, I would not be here today.

You have already returned. Now Minister Comín will do so, and only President Puigdemont will be missing. What should his role be when he returns?

— In Junts, everyone wants President Puigdemont to continue leading the party. We have never seen a former president acting as head of the opposition in Parliament, but perhaps he will be the first, I do not know, I do not think so. He will be the one who ends up deciding his role. He is a figure who will go down in history, although he continues to write the history of day-to-day life. And that is not easy to manage, it is a lot of responsibility. Whatever happens, I am sure that he will make a decision thinking about the country, before Junts or himself.