The twelve strong terror cell that carried out two attacks in Spain this week had collected 120 gas canisters and was planning to use them in vehicle attacks, Spanish police say. Canisters were found at a house, said to be used by the cell, that blew up in the town of Alcanar on Wednesday night.
Following a deadly vehicle-ramming attack in Barcelona on Thursday afternoon -- which left at least 13 people killed -- a police operation was carried out 90 minutes south of the city in Cambrils, during which five “terrorists” were killed, officials said.
A van mowed through crowds of tourists on Barcelona's most famous avenue on Thursday, killing at least thirteen people in an attack that was claimed by Islamic State. The head of the Spanish region of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, said at least 80 people had been taken to hospital and 13 had been reported killed.
Spain will not risk a Brexit deal by making Gibraltar’s sovereignty a condition in the talks, the country’s Foreign Minister said in an interview on Sunday. Speaking to the conservative newspaper ABC, Alfonso Dastis said Spain would not accept any agreement that undermined its position on Gibraltar, but would not use the Brexit talks to push its sovereignty aspirations over the Rock.
Spain's economy grew by 0.9% in the second quarter thanks to improved exports and household spending. The growth figure, a first estimate from the National Statistics Institute (INE), suggests the country's economy has finally grown back to the size it was before the credit crunch of 2008.
Gibraltar will continue to grow in a post-Brexit world and Spain should not create obstacles to cross-border cooperation that will generate jobs and wealth for the region, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told a seminar in the neighboring town of San Roque in Andalucía.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has told the country’s National Court he did not know anything about the ruling Partido Popular’s accounting practices when a corrupt scheme allegedly helped fund it. Wednesday’s highly-anticipated hearing was the first time that a prime minister has appeared in court while holding office since Spain transitioned to democracy four decades ago.
Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alfonso Dastis, will visit the Campo de Gibraltar in September to discuss the impact of Brexit on cross-border workers and the wider region. The forthcoming visit was announced late Thursday night following a meeting in Madrid between the minister and officials from the Campo.
The election of Emmanuel Macron as president has helped propel France to the top of a league table of global “soft power”, while Britain’s score has decreased partly as a result of Brexit. But despite losing points for government stability, enterprise and favorability measured in worldwide polls, the UK hung on to second slot, thanks to the US tumbling from first to third following the election of Donald Trump.
The Queen appears to have acknowledged the thorny issue of Gibraltar in a speech at the King of Spain’s state banquet. In what is likely to be interpreted as a reference to the dispute between Britain and Spain over Gibraltar’s sovereignty, the Queen said the two countries did not always see “eye to eye”.