On Friday, the Spanish National Court sentenced the leader of a jihadist cell based in Barcelona to 10 years in prison for planning an attack against Russian targets, while his three accomplices were sentenced to 8 years in prison. The court declared that the four members of the jihadist terrorist cell had selected Russian targets to attack in the Catalan capital and that they were ready to act.
Once they had acquired training in the use of explosives, knives, and how to carry out mass hit-and-runs, the cell leader “proceeded to mark possible targets, especially Russian interests in the Catalan capital.” The accused were in contact with the Islamic State group through a complex system of applications previously validated by the organization. The cell had elaborated videos with images of emblematic places in Barcelona.
The threat level for attacks in Spain is currently at the second highest echelon. In 2017, Catalonia was the scene of attacks that killed 16 people, beginning with a mass shooting on Las Ramblas, a famous avenue in the center of Barcelona. Thirteen years earlier, Madrid suffered the bloodiest attacks ever committed in Europe, in which 191 people were killed and some 2,000 injured on several suburban trains.