Spanish police have killed several people in a coastal town south of Barcelona in response to a terrorist attack.
Reports of an operation by security services in Cambrils emerged shortly after 1am local time, some eight hours after a van driver killed 13 people and injured more than 100 in a terrorist attack in Barcelona.
Bystanders could be seen running for cover and several gunshots heard in footage posted on social media that appeared to have been filmed on the town's beachfront promenade.
Two people were arrested after the earlier incident, when a white Fiat van tore through the Las Ramblas district, which was packed with shoppers and holidaymakers.
Police confirmed neither of those in custody was the driver behind the atrocity, which Spain's prime minister Mariano Rajoy described as "jihad terrorism".
Mossos, the Catalan police force, urged locals to take cover tweeting: "Police operation in #Cambrils for possible terrorist attack. If you are now in #Cambrils avoid going out. Stay home, stay safe."
According to Spanish broadcaster RTVE police opened fire killing four people and injuring one other.
The broadcaster said police had suspected they were planning an attack in the wake of the deadly rampage in Las Ramblas.
In another clip posted on social media at least three bodies could be seen lying on the floor.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel