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AFP/GETTY IMAGESCatalonia's leader Carles Puigdemont says the region has won the right to break away from Spain
The drive for independence that delivered the banned 1 October

referendum did not begin under his leadership. But such is his zeal

for secession, that Catalonia's President Carles Puigdemont is

prepared

to risk its existing autonomy to achieve it.

In defiance of the law and Spain's constitution, he has pushed forward in

the

hope of international recognition.

It may well be a doomed journey in the eyes of Spain's allies in Brussels

and Washington - but the meek-looking village baker's son from Girona is

undaunted.

Born in Amer in 1962, he grew up under the dictatorship of Gen Francisco

Franco and was taught in Spanish at a church-run boarding school, but

spoke Catalan at home like others of his generation.

Joan Matamala, a few years his senior at the school, remembers the boy

everyone got on with, even the older pupils.

Image captionBookseller Joan Matamala went to school with Carles Puigdemont
Mr Matamala runs a bookshop, Les Voltes, that has been promoting

Catalan language and culture in Girona for 50 years. The young

Puigdemont

did not come over as a natural leader at the time but he was someone

you

did not forget, he says.

As a young man, Puigdemont had a passion for his native tongue,

going on to study Catalan philology at the local university and polishing

colleagues' copy

when he first found work in the city's newspapers.

Miquel Riera worked with him at the fiercely pro-independence paper now

known as El Punt Avui, often late into the night.

Image captionMiquel Riera worked with Carles Puigdemont at the pro-independence newspaper nowknown as El Punt Avui
"Right from the start he was very interested in new technology and

the internet," says Mr Riera. This may have fed Puigdemont's awareness

of social media,

which was crucial in promoting the referendum campaign.

"He's a man who makes friends easily," says Mr Riera, whose 25-year-old

son,

he says, was bruised on the chest by a police rifle butt at a polling station

on Sunday.

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Mr Puigdemont served as mayor of Girona from 2011 until 2016 when he

was elected regional president of Catalonia.

There is no denying his star appeal among his supporters, who clamour to

take selfies with him at rallies.

His popularity cuts across class, coming as he does from comparatively

modest origins, outside the Catalan elite which dominated the local

centre-right alliance, Convergence and Union (now known as the Catalan European Democratic Party), for years.

"Puigdemont has been absolutely key to bringing Catalonia to where we

are

now," says Montse Daban, international chairperson of the Catalan

National Assembly, a grassroots pro-independence movement.

"He's been an absolute and positive surprise for Catalan citizens, who

were

already supporting the independence process and saw with dismay

that it

was facing several burdens."

Image captionBut his actions have brought him into conflict with Spanish law. And in the eyes of Spain's government, the Catalan leader has ruthlessly created a crisis, burning all the bridges in order to make a unilateral declaration of independence.
"Democracy is not about voting - there are referenda in dictatorships too,"

a

Madrid government source told the BBC. "Only when you vote with

guarantees according to the law is it a democracy."

The images of violence at the polling stations were "150% part of

Puigdemont's plan", the source said.

"It's unfortunate because it was a trap. There's no doubt it looks bad for

the Spanish government."

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Image captionGetty ImagesThousands protested in Barcelona after the 1 October referendum was marred byviolence