Puigdemont's lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas, said on Twitter that Puigdemont was picked up by German police as he was travelling back to Belgium where he has been living in self-imposed exile.

The news was confirmed, when a German police spokesman told AFP that Puigdemont "was arrested today at 11:19 am by Schleswig-Holstein's highway patrol force," adding that the detention was based on a European warrant. "He is now in police custody."

Puigdemont's party spokeswoman Anna Grabalosa also confirmed that he was detained on arrival in Germany from Denmark according to The Local. "It happened as he crossed the Danish-German border. He was treated well and all his lawyers are there. That is all I can say," she said.

Puigdemont was driving in Germany on Sunday morning, en route from Denmark, when police detained him on an international arrest warrant issued by a Spanish judge. Puigdemont has been charged by Spain with "rebellion" and "sedition" over his failed independence bid for Catalonia. He had been visiting Finland since Thursday, but slipped out of the Nordic country before Finnish police could detain him.