Catalonia‘s deposed president surrendered to the police in Belgium after seeking asylum in Brussels for a week.
Gilles Dejemeppe, a spokesperson for the Belgian prosecutor’s office, announced Mr Puidgemont and four members of his Cabinet had turned themselves in to Belgian police early Sunday morning.
Mr Dejemeppe said: “This morning the five people wanted by Spain presented themselves to police in Brussels. They were taken into custody at 9:17 this morning.
“In the presence of their lawyers, they were officially notified of the European arrest warrant. The investigative judge can decide to refuse to execute the European arrest warrant, arrest them or release them under bail.
“The judge will hear from the people involved this afternoon. He will then have until tomorrow morning to decide.”
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Mr Puigdemont and the former-ministers had fled to Belgium after being removed from power by Spanish authorities as part of an extraordinary crackdown to impede the region’s declaration of independence, which Spain views as illegal.
A Spanish National Court judge issued warrants for the five separatist politicians on suspicion of five crimes, including rebellion, rebellion and embezzlement, on Friday.
Earlier in the week, the same judge jailed another eight former Catalan Cabinet without bail while her investigation continues. A ninth spent a night in jail and was freed after posting bail.
Mr Puigdemont wrote in Dutch on his Twitter account on Saturday that he is “prepared to fully cooperate with Belgian justice following the European arrest warrant issued by Spain”.
Despite Madrid’s crackdown on the pro-independence movement, Catalonia saw a hike in support for the Catalan government.
And LSE Professor Sebastian Balfour said it is more than likely Catalan people will continue to move towards the idea of independence if Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy continues his aggressive strategy to return the rule of law in Catalonia.
He said: “The latest poll, which was published last week, puts the percentage of people polled who support independence to 48.7 per cent whereas three months ago it was 41 per cent. So that figure seems to be creeping up.”