What’s next for Catalonia and would-be leader Carles Puigdemont?

That could take up to two months if no candidate gets an absolute majority of votes. If parties agree on a regional leader and it's Puigdemont while he is still abroad, Madrid would declare the vote null and keep its control over the region.

By: Reuters | Madrid | Published: January 17, 2018 4:13 pm

If they fail to agree on Puigdemont or another candidate in that time frame, it’s back to square one with fresh regional elections. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, File)

Catalonia’s new parliament meets for the first time on Wednesday, a step towards choosing a president for Spain’s wealthiest region, a daunting challenge when the top candidate has fled abroad and other potentials are in jail. Here is a look at what lies ahead for Catalonia, a region which has been ruled by Madrid for the past three months after it held an illegal independence referendum:

CAN PUIGDEMONT RULE CATALONIA?

Carles Puigdemont, the 55-year old ex-Catalonia chief sacked by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for his role in organising the Oct. 1 independence referendum, is the separatists’ candidate to rule Catalonia.