Terror on La Rambla

Fears of a terrorist attack in Barcelona materialised yesterday when a rented van was driven down the centre of a Ramblas packed with tourists during the summer season. At least thirteen people were killed and some fifty more injured, according to official sources, as the vehicle careered full speed down the crowded avenue before stopping on the mosaic of Joan Miró beside Carrer Hospital.

The Mossos d’Esquadra - the Catalan police force - arrested one person, another died in a shootout with the security forces and a third was still being sought. According to police sources, during the operation to prevent vehicles from leaving the city, a driver failed to stop at a control point on Avenguda Diagonal, injuring one police officer. The suspect was pursued to near the Walden building in Sant Just Desvern, where he was shot dead.

The van used in the atrocity was hired under the name of Driss Oukabir. However, Oukabir was later intercepted on the way to his local police station to report that his documentation had been stolen. It is thought that this was a ploy by the suspects to waste police time.

During the attack, many pedestrians immediately dived into doorways, stores and bars, which lowered their shutters until the police evacuated them some time later.

The president of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, held an emergency meeting with the rest of the executive, the delegate of the Spanish government to Catalonia, Enric Millo, the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and several police commissions to address the crisis and coordinate the security forces operating in Catalonia.