Prominent in the image below is Barcelona's Sagrada Família church. This iconic structure has previously been targeted for jihadist attacks, most recently in August, 2017. The plot was upset by an accidental detonation of explosives in the Spanish town of Alcanar, where two were killed and seven were injured. Among the dead was a 40-year-old imam thought to be the mastermind.

Police initially thought the explosion was caused by a buildup of natural gas inside of the home. Upon a second inspection, police discovered a large supply of LP gas bottles and traces of the explosive compound TATP ( triactetone triperoxide, AKA ''The Mother of Satan'). In the followup investigation, it was discovered that the explosion was caused by an error during assembly of three large bombs intended for the Sagrada attack.

The next day, a vehicle ramming attack took place in Barcelona that killed 13 and injured 130. Hours later, five men thought to be members of the same terrorist cell drove into pedestrians in the nearby city of Cambrils killing one and injuring six.

The Islamic State claimed credit for the attacks.

Subscribers may find it interesting that Cambrils, Spain is located less than 3 miles from the town of Salou. Well known in intelligence circles as as one of Europe's major hotspots of radicalization, Salou is the location where Mohamed Atta, the reported pilot of 1st plane to fly into the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks, held a key planning meeting with an al Qaeda figure earlier in 2001. 

The 2017 attacks were the largest in Spain since the March, 2004 Madrid train bombings within which near simultaneous, coordinated bombings against the Cercanías commuter train system were carried out three days before the country's general elections. 10 devices packed with explosives and nails were detonated in four trains heading to the Spanish capital. 192 were killed and approximately 2000 injured. 

In this instance, the bombings were believed to have been carried out by al-Qaeda.

The Arabic text in the image is a direct translation of the Spanish and English statements.