Barcelona attack: Bigger attack planned, says suspect

One of the suspected Barcelona terrorists says a larger attack was planned, the BBC reports, citing unnamed judicial sources.

"Mohamed Houli Chemlal was testifying in the Madrid high court, where the four surviving suspects are appearing," the BBC says.

Spain charged the four men today with murder, terrorism and weapons possession at a closed-door hearing in Madrid's heavily guarded National Court, the Evening Standard reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Driss Oukabir, Mohammed Aalla, Salh el Karib and Chemlal are believed to be members of an Islamist terror cell that killed 15 people in Barcelona and Cambrils last week and injured more than 100.

Chemlal, arrested after an explosion at a bomb factory south of Barcelona, was covered in bandages and appeared to be wearing hospital pyjamas to today's court appearance, the Daily Mail reports.

The four are from Ripoll, north of Barcelona, where most of those connected to the terror attacks lived. Eight other suspected members of the 12-strong cell are dead, including the alleged driver of the Barcelona van who was shot by police yesterday while wearing a fake suicide vest and carrying a bag of knives.

The suspected ringleader of the terror cell, Abdelbaki Es Satty is believed to have died in the blast in Alcanar. The 42-year-old imam was reportedly ordered to leave Spain in 2014 after serving a prison sentence for drugs offences but won an appeal to stay on, the Daily Mail reports.