The Mallorca jihadist case: six suspects connected to a jihadist cell and planned attacks
The National Court has closed the investigation into a case involving six individuals who were accused of forming a jihadist cell on the island of Mallorca. The court concluded there is enough evidence to try all defendants for collaborating with a terrorist organization, a charge that carries a potential prison term of up to ten years. The proceedings leave the defendants poised at the threshold of a trial as prosecutors prepare their final charges and requests for conviction.
The indictment traces the case back to 2015 when police investigators first uncovered activity tied to Islamic extremism. A team specializing in counterterrorism tracked a Salafi imam based in Birmingham whose YouTube channel hosted a series of videos. Records later showed that a person named Tufiq traveled to Syria, a factor in what prosecutors describe as a process of brainwashing, recruitment, and travel by a young Muslim resident in Spain to join the fighting there. The judge noted that the videos appeared aimed at recruiting jihadists to travel to Asia to join ISIS.
Investigators found a strong online presence that drew in followers, including a man who is described as having served as a spiritual guide to a group of Moroccans living in Mallorca. He is said to have produced jihadist propaganda in video form for distribution on YouTube. Authorities connected several individuals in the Raiguer region and a group associated with an Inca mosque with the activity surrounding the case, including those who worked to create and distribute the videos.
A “massacre” in Inca
Police reports indicate the accused gathered followers through social networks and through secret weekly meetings, a pattern that counterterrorism experts describe as rapid radicalization. Some in the group were believed to be planning an attack on Inca, with intentions to stab pedestrians and cause mass casualties. The early signs of this plan heightened authorities’ fear that an imminent attack could occur, triggering a major operation in the early hours of June 28, 2017. In that raid, six alleged members of the cell were detained. Four of them were arrested in Inca and nearby towns, while the imam linked to the group, who was found to be operating from abroad, was detained in the United Kingdom and a collaborator residing in Mallorca was arrested in Germany.
Four individuals tied to jihadist activity were ultimately linked to Mallorca in this operation, underscoring the international dimensions of the case and the network involved.
Six years later, the National Court judge overseeing the case issued a decision confirming that the investigation was complete and that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute. The charges center on possible cooperation with a terrorist organization under the Spanish Criminal Code, with potential penalties ranging from five to ten years. The judge stated that the evidence supported allegations of disseminating ideal material intended to recruit future jihadists and described the messages as incitement to extreme and indiscriminate violence. The audiovisual material allegedly promoted apostasy and proselytizing in support of an Islamist cause.
“Peace message”
During investigations and in responses to the indictment, the defendants presented several defenses. They claimed that police misinterpreted the videos and that the imam’s stated aim was to convey a message of peace and to illustrate to young Muslims what not to do. Other defendants argued that the evidence was vague and abstract. In decisions addressing these objections, the National Court noted that those arguments must be presented in court for consideration during the ongoing judgment process.
The case remains pending as prosecutors prepare to set out the exact crimes attributed to each defendant and to request an oral hearing where they will be required to respond to defense arguments and evidence presented during the investigative phase. The outcome will determine the formal charges and the exact legal pathway the case will follow as it proceeds toward trial.