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, Paralel.Az reports citing POLITICO.

Officers have set up checkpoints at exits from the city 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.

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Seven years after fleeing Spain to avoid arrest, Carles Puigdemont reappeared in Barcelona in front of hundreds of cheering supporters on Thursday outside the Catalan parliament, Paralel.Az reports citing POLITICO.

Puigdemont, the figurehead of the region’s separatist movement, appeared on a stage next to the city’s Triumphal Arch. Supporters formed a human 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!”

It is unclear where Puigdemont is now, or whether he will attempt to enter the Catalan parliament, which has been sealed off by police forces.

The former Catalan president announced his intention to return to Barcelona on Wednesday, saying he intended to be back in Barcelona for a vote on Socialist Salvador Illa becoming regional president, which would put an end to 14 years of separatist governments.

Puigdemont intends to march to the Catalan parliament accompanied by his supporters. Police forces have sealed off the building and are guarding the entrances.

Expectation was high ahead of Puigdemont’s promised appearance. In the hour before the event’s scheduled start at 9 a.m., booming music and large screens recounted the past seven years of the Catalan leader’s political trials and tribulations.