Christmas terror fears in Barcelona as cops warned
COPS in Barcelona are on high alert after being warned a Moroccan man could carry out a terror attack in the city on Christmas Day.
Officers have been told the Casablanca-born terrorist may try to commit a massacre in the Catalan capital using a coach or similar type of vehicle.
The terror warning was highlighted by several Spanish papers today which reported seeing an internal alert sent to Catalonia’s police force.
The worrying revelation surfaced after the US state department tweeted a warning for Spain.
It recommended: “Exercise heightened caution around areas of vehicle movement including buses in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona during Christmas and New Year.
“Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, and other public areas.”
Respected Catalan daily El Periodico revealed that sources said an internal alert had warned officers a man born in the Moroccan city of Casablanca could try to mow down pedestrians using a coach or similar vehicle.
It said the alert had mentioned Christmas Day as the date for the possible attack and that regional Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalona's police force, had given it “medium” credibility.
Spanish daily El Pais published the initials of the man police are said to be hunting for - B.L. - and described him as a 30-year-old with a bus licence.
It said: “The Mossos are carrying out checks on minibuses and coaches in the centre of Barcelona, as well as reinforcing security elsewhere, to try to track down the possible suspect."
A Mossos spokesman admitted this morning the force was considering issuing a statement as a result of publicity about the possible attack.
He said: “The terror alert remains on level four out of a possible level five. Any warning that reaches us is analysed.”
Last Friday, cops in Barcelona arrested a 33-year-old Moroccan described as a “dangerous ISIS terrorist” who had managed to reach Spain after fighting in Syria.
On August 17 2017, Moroccan Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, drove a rented van into crowds on Barcelona's famous Las Ramblas, a central boulevard, killing 14 in Spain's worst attack in over a decade.
Among those killed was British-born Julian Cadman, aged seven.
Another man died during the Islamic extremist's getaway, and a woman was killed in a strike the following day in the coastal resort of Cambrils.
More than 130 people were injured.
Police shot dead Younes in vineyards in Subirats, an hour’s drive west of Barcelona, after he went on the run following the Barcelona massacre.
City hall chiefs installed metal bollards after the attack to stop vehicle access.
