Spain: 4 Juvenile Moroccans Arrested for Planning Attack on Basilica

The news has just been released this week in Spain that on December 19, Spanish police arrested four Moroccans between the ages of 14-17 for planning to carry out a terrorist attack against a basilica in the town of Elche (Alicante). 

The below article from OK Diario España, dated 12-31-2024 is translated by Fousesquawk.

Terrorism

Four  Moroccan minors detained, accused of preparing a jihadist attack on the Basilica of Elche

The detained minors, born in Morocco, are between 14 and 17 years of age.

By Paula Gonzalves, journalist and editor. Trained in criminology,  editorial marketing, and film.

12-31-2024 at 11:57. Updated 12-31-2024 at 12:42

Caption: Basilica of Santa Maria in Elche

The National Police have detained four minors, born in Morocco, for planning a terrorist attack on the Basilica of Elche. The youths were arrested on December 19 in a police operation against jihadist terrorism. The alleged terrorists had been living for some time in the Alicante town. They are between 14-17 years of age, and one of them was taken into custody in the secondary institute in which he was studying.

The officers of the operation decided to proceed with the detention of the minors, whom they had been tracking for some time, for fear they would act, taking advantage of Christmas and the crowds of people on the streets and at places of leisure. The Basilica of Santa Maria in Elche was not the only possible target; all (were) in the same area of the Mediterranean coast.

Following their arrest, the National Court- charged with terrorism cases-ordered their placement in the Teresa de Calcutta Juvenile Center in the community of Madrid, per the request of the Office of Juvenile Prosecutor. While the authorities further the investigation, the youths will remain confined in a closed regimen* in the Madrid center. They are accused of terrorist crimes although, given their ages, the charge will have to stick to the confines of the Law on Minors, which punishes the above crime with a maximum of 5 years imprisonment in a closed regimen in a center for minors, with another three years of supervised release.

* Translator: Closed regimen (most restricted regimen for the most dangerous prisoners).

The penalties increase when those convicted are 17 years of age-in this case, they are between 14 and 17- and can go up to 8 years imprisonment. 

Despite the penalties imposed by law, data indicates that the majority of minors sentenced for similar acts face only one year. This short period of time incarcerated is one of the principal obstacles facing security forces in combating terrorism. Partial secrecy of the proceedings has been ordered, according to information published by El Confidencial (newspaper). 

Presence of minors

The presence of minors among the suspects in relation to jihadist terrorism is increasingly common, according to police sources, especially among adolescents of 14 and 15 years of age. Without going further, last October, a young Syrian 17 was sentenced to 4-1/2 years imprisonment in a closed regimen by the Central Juvenile Court of the National Court. He was planning to commit a jihadist attack with explosives prepared in his house in Montellano (Sevilla). Previosly, he had appeared on social media as a “cyber soldier” of Daesh (ISIS), “tremendously homophobic and anti-Semitic” and on Telegram claimed that he would attack a police station: “I will be a martyr if Allah wants”.

At the end of November, the Civil Guard arrested a man in Ceuta for his alleged connection with jihadist terrorism.  This was the 5th person arrested in the zone in only one week in anti-terrorist operations.

Four days previous, the National Police dismantled a jihadist group in Spain and Morocco, connected to the DAESH terrorist organization that constituted a “real threat”, with the intention of carrying out violent actions. Six arrests were made in Spain- four in Ceuta, one in Ibiza, another in Madrid, and three in Morocco.

Source: http://garyfouse.blogspot.com/2025/01/spain-4-juvenile-moroccans-arrested-for.html