Catalan police have locked down Barcelona in a bid to capture separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, who on Thursday briefly reappeared to address supporters in the city before vanishing, writes POLITICO.

“During Operatiu Gabia, which translates to Operation Cage, police initially set up checkpoints at exits from Barcelona as they look for a vehicle in which the former Catalan president, who has been wanted by Spanish authorities since 2017, is said to be travelling. It has now extended the operation to all parts of Catalonia, with checkpoints on all highways, including the main highways that connect Catalonia and France.

“Hundreds of policemen to catch a political leader is not the typical action of a democracy but a regime in search of its public enemy number 1”, a member of Puigdemont’s inner circle told POLITICO.

Seven years after fleeing Spain to avoid arrest, Puigdemont reappeared in Barcelona in front of hundreds of cheering supporters on Thursday outside the Catalan parliament. Then he vanished.

Puigdemont appeared on a stage next to the city’s Triumphal Arch, with nearly 3,5000 attendees showing up Thursday morning, police said. Supporters formed a barrier around him. The politician is subject to an active arrest warrant and police forces are under orders to detain him if they see him.

“Despite all the efforts to do us harm, I have come here today to remind them that we are still here and that we do not have to give up,” Puigdemont told the crowd. “Long live free Catalonia!”

After concluding his short speech, the politician descended from the stage, apparently to take part in a march to the parliament. But within moments, he disappeared into the crowd and was not among a group of lawmakers that ultimately entered the building, which was sealed off and surrounded by police officers”.