The National Court in Madrid said in a statement that it had convicted “four members of a jihadist terrorist cell based in Barcelona who identified Russian targets to carry out attacks against them in the capital of Catalonia” in northeastern Spain.
On Friday, the Spanish judiciary sentenced the leader of a jihadist cell that was active in Barcelona to ten years in prison, and three other members of it to eight years in prison, on charges of planning attacks against Russian targets in the city.
The National Court in Madrid said in a statement that it had convicted “four members of a jihadist terrorist cell based in Barcelona who identified Russian targets to carry out attacks against them in the capital of Catalonia” in northeastern Spain.
The court, which is responsible especially for terrorism cases, added that it had acquitted two other people.
The statement stated that the cell leader “began to identify potential targets, in particular Russian interests in the capital of Catalonia,” and that he was “waiting to obtain war materials,” explaining that he had received training “to use explosives and knives, and to launch major attacks using car bombs.”
According to al-Qudah, this cell was in contact with the Islamic State “through a complex system using a series of different applications… approved by the technological department” of the extremist organization.
The court said the cell also took “pictures of symbolic places in Barcelona”.
In 2017, the Catalonia region witnessed a double attack that killed 16 people in its capital, Barcelona, specifically on the famous Ramblas Avenue and in the coastal resort of Cambrils.
On March 11, 2004, Spain was subjected to the deadliest jihadist attack in Europe, when explosive devices exploded in four trains at Madrid’s Atocha station, killing 191 people and wounding nearly 2,000.
