The attempt by Spain's Interior ministry to avoid, by any means necessary, Carles Puigdemont coming to the Catalan Parliament on Tuesday has given rise to ludicrous scenes. After increasing checks on all border access points to Catalonia, even opening car boots in case the president of the legitimate government of Catalonia was hidden in them, police have carried out operations in places as far from Catalonia as Toledo, near Madrid in the centre of Spain. In the province, over 500km (300 miles) from Barcelona, a surprised group of hunters got caught up in another chapter of the operation to find Puigdemont.
According to Spanish online paper Vozpópuli, this weekend the aerodrome in Ocaña in Toledo was the epicentre of a police operation with a single objective: to check whether a private plane from Brussels was carrying Puigdemont. Apparently, "flight from Brussels" set off alarms for the Interior ministry, fearing that it was the route chosen by president Puigdemont to come to Catalonia.
The news of the flight came from an office of the air traffic services from Cuatro Vientos aerodrome in Madrid, which alerted the Civil Guard agents posted at the airport. The Ocaña aerodrome is only 65km (40 miles) from Madrid, so a group of agents were rapidly deployed to the runway, given the risk of Puigdemont and/or the ministers trying to sneak into the country.
However, when the plane landed, two women and a number of men got out, none of them Puigdemont or any of the ministers with him. Instead, it was a group of hunters, surprised by such a reception.