Former Catalan leader Puigdemont to run in European election

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, living in self-imposed exile in Belgium, will run in the May 26 European Parliament elections as the leading candidate of Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), his political party said on Sunday. Puigdemont, 56, fled Spain in October 2017 after Madrid imposed direct rule on Catalonia. The wealthy northeastern region had unilaterally declared independence on the basis of a referendum deemed illegal by Spanish courts.