Fugitive Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont announced on Friday that he had returned to Belgium after briefly addressing supporters in Barcelona, sparking controversy over how he avoided arrest.

Puigdemont, who fled Spain following a failed 2017 Catalan independence bid, defied an arrest warrant to reappear in Spain on Thursday, where he delivered a speech to thousands outside the Catalan parliament before vanishing into the crowd.

While Puigdemont’s lawyer and party officials confirmed his return to Belgium, Catalonia’s regional police chief suggested he might still be in Barcelona, France 24 has reported.

Written by B.C. Begley