From the Liveblog of
Monday, December 24, 2018
High security in Barcelona following US terror warning
Security is high in Barcelona following a US warning of the risk of a terror attack during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
The security alert, posted online and sent to US citizens in Spain’s second-largest city, recommends exercising “heightened caution” around buses and public transport in the Las Ramblas area. Barcelona’s downtown boulevard, beloved by tourists and residents, was targeted last year during an attack claimed by Islamic State jihadists that killed 14 people.
The regional Mossos d’Esquadra police declines to comment directly on the alleged threat, saying only that security has been heightened “as part of a previously arranged anti-terrorist vigilance for the Christmas period.”
Spain’s Interior Ministry says the level of anti-terror alert in the country remained at the second-highest level, unchanged since 2015.
— AP
The Times of Israel Community.