Socialist Salvador Illa sworn-in as new Catalonia president

Spanish Socialist politician Salvador Illa was sworn-in Saturday as President of Catalonia — an appointment ending over a decade of separatist rule in the region.

The appointment means the Socialists will return to power after 14 years of nationalist and pro-independence governments.

Earlier this week, Illa secured the support of leftist parties PSC, ERC and Comuns in the Catalonia parliamentary investiture, guaranteeing leadership.

Politicians and members of the public attended the inauguration ceremony held at Saló de Santi Jordi, the main hall of the Palau de la Generalitat in Barcelona.

Illa said in a brief speech that he would use presidency to unite the Catalans in the face of the advance of “divisive, demagogic and populist approaches” that put coexistence and the “civil unity” at risk.

It comes days after former President of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont returned to Spain from self-imposed exile in a bid to protest the expected leadership ballot.

Puigdemont spearheaded the failed 2017 separatist referendum calling for Catalonian independence, and has been on the run from Spanish authorities ever since.

In a shocking turn of events, the fugitive politician this week took to social media platform X to declare he would return to his home state to protest the impending leadership shift.

But after a speech delivered in Barcelona to thousands of Spanish supporters, attended by journalists and police officers, Puigdemont once again escaped Spanish authorities.

Puigdemont revealed on X that after “a difficult few days” and “thousands of kilometres” he had once again returned to live exile in Waterloo, Belgium.