Police have evacuated tourists from the area around Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia church as part of an anti-terror operation.
The nearest tube station has been closed and locals and holidaymakers ordered away from cafe and bar terraces and told to take refuge inside premises.
Specialist bomb disposal experts have been sent to the area.
Several roads have also been closed. The area has been cordoned off as police rush to investigate.
The area has been cordoned off as police rush to investigate
It comes less than a month after 13 people were murdered and 130 hurt in the city’s Las Ramblas when a jihadist drove a van into pedestrians on the street
The drama is understood to have been sparked by a suspicious package inside a van.
Regional Mossos d’Esquadra police tweeted in a message partly directed at those immediately affected: ‘We are making checks around the Sagrada Familia as part of an anti-terror operation and have cordoned off the area. Follow the instructions of police.’
The Sagrada Familia, one of Barcelona’s most popular tourist attractions, was the intended target of the terrorists who carried out last month’s atrocity in the city’s famous Ramblas and the seaside resort of Cambrils.
It comes less than a month after 13 people were murdered and 130 hurt in the city’s Las Ramblas when a jihadist drove a van into pedestrians on the street.
It later emerged that the terrorists were plotting to detonate vans loaded with gas canisters into popular tourist destinations in Barcelona – including the Sagrada Familia (pictured)
Five men then drove into pedestrians in nearby Cambrils, murdering one woman and hurting six others before being shot dead by police.
It later emerged that the terrorists were plotting to detonate vans loaded with gas canisters into popular tourist destinations in Barcelona – including the Sagrada Familia.
Catalan police said today they were evacuating the holy site and nearby businesses as part of an anti-terrorism operation.
They said earlier on Twitter they had cordoned off the site
More to follow…