Spain: One Fine Day in a Spanish Jail

Spanish police have announced that charges have been filed against a Moroccan prisoner who was planning to carry out a jihadist attack in Spain upon his release from prison. The suspect, who is not named, was serving time in prison for common crimes and was nearing his release date.

The article below from yesterday's El Periodico is translated by Fousesquawk.

Islamic terrorism

A jihadist prisoner who wanted to carry out an attack in Spain is arrested

Was preparing to physically enlist in a combat zone

Caption: Interior of a module at the Central Penitentiary at Soria

-By Juan Jose Fernandez

Madrid, April 10, 2025 at 17:17, Updated April 10, 2025 at 18:04

Agents of the General Intelligence Committee of the National Police have detained a prisoner at the Central Penitentiary of Soria, a radical Islamist, who had admitted in front of his friends his intention to attack Spain upon his release from prison.

The case is being investigated by General Investigative Court 3 of the National Court. The arrest occurred on Wednesday and was confirmed 24 hours later by the police. The prisoner had been under observation since last October and was showing signs of fanaticism. The police are accusing him of the crimes of terrorist self-indoctrination and self-training. He was also proselytizing with other prisoners to recruit them into jihadism.

The detention was carried out as the prisoner was close to completing a sentence that had landed him in jail for common crimes. Surveillance by the groups of control and monitoring of the penal institutions played a key part in the monitoring of his activities of radicalization, of which he began to provide evidence at the Penitentiary Center of Alcala de Henares, where he had been in custody (since) last fall.

Slogans and exercises

The police consider the jihadist activity of the prisoner "intense" and reported on Wednesday that he had converted his way of life in prison following the precepts of the Islamic State and barely concealed (his) religious radicalism. Among other prisoners, the inmate, of Moroccan origin, often recited nasheed jihadist (slogans and chanted verses) from the propaganda apparatus of that multinational terrorist (organization). 

His preparation for jihad was not just a fundamentalist practice of the faith: He also carried out physical training. In his module, he said that he was preparing to move to some war zone to join the ranks of ISIS as a mujahid.

It was in these confidential (discussions), presenting himself as a warrior ready to act, that he said he was ready to attack in Spain. More concrete plans, (such as) the when and where of his plans, were not revealed by the police operation.

If the court confirms the (facts) of the investigation carried out by police and prison guards, the sentence for this prisoner will increase between 3 to 6 years.

Por qué confiar en El Periódico