Spain suspects planned bigger attack, say cops

Suspects in Spain’s deadly twin terror attacks were preparing an even bigger assault that was foiled as events unfolded, police said on Friday as the death toll rose to 14 with over 100 injured.

Officers also said the driver of the white van which mowed down tourists in the packed centre of Barcelona on Thursday evening may have been among suspects killed in the hours since the mayhem started.

Police said they killed five “suspected terrorists” during the night and arrested three others as Spain reeled from the double tragedy in Barcelona and in Cambrils, some 120 km south.

In a poignant moment on Friday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, King Felipe VI and the president of Catalonia — where both attacks took place — held a minute of silence in Barcelona. It was followed by applause and shouts of “not afraid”.

In what has been a fast-moving investigation, police were quick to connect the two attacks, and at a briefing Friday afternoon revealed the suspects had apparently been planning something bigger. 

“They were preparing one or several attacks in Barcelona and an explosion in Alcanar stopped this as they no longer had the material they needed to commit attacks of an even bigger scope,” said Josep Lluis Trapero of Catalonia’s police.

He was referring to a blast in a house in the town of Alcanar on Wednesday evening, which police said killed one person. They said it was caused by an attempt to make explosive devices.

Mr Trapero said that after this, the suspects — who formed part of a cell — allegedly went on to commit “more rudimentary” attacks. These involved the vehicles ploughing into pedestrians in Barcelona and Cambrils.

The Cambril suspects had an axe and knives in the car as well as fake explosive belts stuck to their bodies, said police.

The police chief added that the driver of the van in Barcelona could be among the five suspects shot dead by security forces in Cambrils. But while some evidence indicated this, there was no conclusive proof.

Both the attacks followed the same modus operandi. Drivers deliberately targeted pedestrians with their vehicles, just the latest in a series of such assaults in Europe,  where cars and vans have been used to lethal effect.