National Police Agency officers carried out a coordinated operation resulting in four arrests in an anti-terrorism effort that authorities link to Islamic extremism. Police sources confirmed the actions to EL PERIÓDICO, a publication within the Prensa Ibérica group. The arrests occurred in February across several locations: Madrid, Barcelona, and Huétor-Tajar in Granada.
The operation appears to be aimed at disrupting a propagandistic network rather than responding to an immediate imminent threat. Detainees were reportedly under continuous police scrutiny for activities that included promoting radical ideologies on social networks and acting as a coordinated group with shared objectives. Investigators indicated that the individuals detained were part of a larger pattern of online activity designed to recruit and inspire others to engage in extremist conduct.
Officials stressed that the timing of the arrests does not reflect a change in the national alert status for terrorism, though it notes an ongoing high level of security activity across Spain. The detainees, described as young adults, are alleged to have created and disseminated material that supports or glorifies violent jihad and the mujahideen, with content that generally did not address the current escalation of violence in Gaza. The arrests are framed as the culmination of a long-running investigation by the National Police, whose history of counterterrorism work has extended back to the early 2000s and has included numerous operations against extremist activity on digital platforms.