Controversy over alleged CIA warning of Barcelona attacks

The Catalan authorities and the Mossos d’Esquadra police deny they received any CIA warning that ISIS was potentially planning an attack on Barcelona’s La Rambla. A Catalan newspaper, El Periódico, on Thursday printed a memo allegedly sent by the US intelligence agency to Catalonia’s police force via the American National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). However, the Catalan home affairs minister, Joaquim Forn, claimed on Thursday that the Mossos receive “dozens” such warnings and analyze them all.

Meanwhile, senior Catalan police officer, Josep Lluís Trapero, admitted receiving one warning about an attack on La Rambla, but insisted it was not from either of the US institutions. Trapero did not disclose the origin of the warning for security reasons, but said his police force gave it “little credibility”, while the equivalent Spanish institutions also analyzed the message and ruled it out as “not credible”. He added that this specific warning was never discussed in any antiterrorist coordination meeting between Catalan and Spanish police.

Executive rules out link with Rambla attack

The Catalan minister pointed out that the attack on La Rambla was not the terrorists’ original plan. In fact, the court investigating the incidents found that the accidental explosion of the gas canisters in the terrorist safe house in Alcanar meant the attackers were forced to change their plans at the last minute, which led them to improvise the van attack on La Rambla.