Lessons of Eluned's homage to Catalonia

IT WAS winter in the Catalonian town of Banyoles.

- With Graham Davies

The place is known as fiercely Catalan and proudly committed to Catalan independence. From the lampposts flew the Estelada, an unofficial version of the Catalonian flag, along with an image of Carles Puigdemont, the former president of the government of Catalonia.

The waters of the lake of Banyoles, with the snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees in the background, were crystal-clear, unlike the whereabouts and political future of the elusive Carles. Rumour was that he had swapped the tortilla for the Belgian waffle, had done a runner with some of his mates and was last seen swigging a Trappist beer in the Belgian capital.