MADRID — The former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont returned from Germany to Belgium on Saturday after Spain failed in an attempt to extradite him on charges of rebellion over an illegal declaration of independence.

Mr. Puigdemont said he would continue traveling around Europe to raise support for the cause of Catalan independence. He fled to Belgium in October after Madrid imposed direct rule on the region after his separatist administration declared independence.

“This will not be my last stop; this is not the end of my journey. I will travel around Europe to the four corners of the continent to defend our cause,” he said at a news conference held in Brussels alongside the current Catalan leader, Quim Torra, who had traveled to Spain to greet him.

Mr. Puigdemont, 55, was arrested on March 25 at a gas station in the northern German region of Schleswig-Holstein while returning to Belgium after a journey to Finland.