(FreedomBeacon.com)- Earlier this month, Spanish police arrested a man in connection with a plot to carry out a terrorist attack in Catalonia.
The suspected Islamic extremist was arrested by the Mossos d’Esquadra, the police in the autonomous community of Catalonia, on Friday, September 2. According to the police, the suspect, who was recently radicalized, had procured an antique hand grenade and was plotting a terror attack.
After police found a Spanish civil war era hand grenade in a vacant home in the town of Empuriabrava in May, subsequent investigations led them to the suspect. Police also found knives and a replica pistol in the suspect’s possession.
According to investigators, the man had become increasingly radicalized, speaking out in favor of jihadist groups and offering to carry out an attack in Catalonia. During that time, the suspect changed his appearance and shared jihadist material on martyrdom while encouraging others to engage in violence.
The suspect was placed in a foreigner’s internment center where he is awaiting possible deportation from Spain.
In August, Spanish authorities working with Austrian police arrested two Islamic jihadists who had illegally entered the European Union through the Balkan migrant route. One of the two jihadists was a Moroccan who had previously lived in Spain. He was apprehended in the town of Mataró in Catalonia.
Spain has been experiencing an uptick in radical Islamic extremism, especially among inmates in Spanish prisons. In May, the Spanish Interior Ministry warned officials of the rising threats from Jihadi inmates after an article in a Jihadi magazine encouraged inmates to murder prison guards.
