Spain terror threat raised to severe 40,000 police deployed

[Anthea]

Warning: Spain terror threat raised to ‘severe’ as 40,000 police deployed to tourist spots

Spain has seen its terror threat level raised by police as thousands of Britons prepare to jet off to the popular holiday location. The level has been raised to four out of five which is classed as ‘severe.' This is the latest travel advice.

The Spanish Home Office put Operation Summer into place which will see an extra 40,000 police deployed in tourists hotspots amid ISIS threats. They will stand guard in popular tourism locations including beaches, hotels, restaurants and stations until the end of the peak holiday season.

The Operation aims to “take full action to obtain information in order to prevent terrorist acts.”

Forces will also reinforce “security measures at events and places that will attract a large number of people.”

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) states: “Terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Spain.”

The FCO adds: “Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners.

“The Spanish authorities take measures to protect visitors, but you should be vigilant and follow the instructions of the local authorities.”

Barcelona has been threatened with attacks by terrorists in the last month.

Jihadi group Al-Muntasir, has issued three threats to the city through a number of social media accounts.

The latest threat saw the group use a photo of Barcelona’s iconic Sagrada Familia cathedral.

Barcelona was the site of a terror incident back in 2017. According to the FCO: “On 17/18 August 2017, there were two terrorist-related incidents where vehicles were driven directly at pedestrians, resulting in injuries and loss of life.

“These were in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona and Cambrils, near Salou (100km southwest of Barcelona).”

ISIS - who claimed responsibility for the Las Ramblas attacks - have also now threatened both Barcelona and Madrid.

Terrorism is a 'significant' threat to the UK says General Carter

These threats came to light in a 33-minute pro-Islamic State video uncovered by the Middle East research group MEMRI,

The attacks would be in retaliation of the recent death of ISIS recruiter ‘White Widow’ Sally Jones, it has been said.

The FCO also states: “Spanish police have disrupted a number of groups suspected of recruiting individuals to travel to Syria and Iraq from 2015 to the present date. Some of them expressed an intention to carry out attacks in Europe.

“There’s a heightened threat of terrorist attack globally against UK interests and British nationals from groups or individuals motivated by the conflict in Iraq and Syria. You should be vigilant at this time.”

Spain is the most popular holiday destination in the world for Britons, research from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has shown - just as it was decades ago.

Analysis of the International Passenger Survey (IPS) air travel figures showed nearly over 6,736 visitors flew to Spain in 1994 - roughly 5,000 more than any other country. In 2018, over 13,615 British tourists headed to Spanish destinations - roughly 11,000 more than any other country.

Italy is in second place for the most popular with the remaining top five consisting of Portugal, Greece and France.

https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articl ... ews-latest