Terrorism ruled out after man spreads panic with backpack scare at Barcelona Airport

Police have arrested a man said to have sparked terror at Barcelona’s El Prat airport by yelling ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he threw a backpack to the ground.

Holidaymakers began running through the airport terminal to get away and at least two people reportedly had to be treated for panic attacks following the drama.

Cops called in bomb disposal experts after holding the man with the help of an airport worker.

The Guardia Civil’s elite bomb squad Tedax unit was alerted so they could help ensure the backpack contained no explosives following checks, although sources said this morning they didn’t in the end get involved.

Normality was gradually restored following the scare.

The incident occurred around 7.30pm on Monday in the airport’s T2 terminal.

The regional Mossos d’Esquadra police force assisted the Guardia Civil by mobilising a rapid deployment police tactical unit, which handles complex, high-risk situations across Spain’s Catalan region.

The man responsible for the scare was arrested. Although he was initially described as a Dominican Republic national, police said this Tuesday that he is a 23-year-old from Honduras.

Investigators say they have failed to get a coherent response out of him about why he acted the way he did but have ruled out a terrorist link.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Barcelona said this morning: “Witnesses said he suddenly started shouting out jihadist-type slogans at people and officers were called.

“By the time they reached the scene the suspect had already been neutralised by private airport security staff.

“We were told he had also assaulted another person but it was a minor assault which didn’t cause any injuries.

“We arrested him on suspicion of a series of crimes including a public order offence and we then determined there was no terror threat despite the nature of what he had been shouting.

“We took the man to the area where airport medical services are based and they recommended his admission to a psychiatric unit.”

A police source added: “His actions caused a lot of fear among other travellers. Imagine being in an airport and a person starts yelling jihadist-type slogans. It’s normal people get scared.

“But the response was rapid and it quickly became apparent there was no terrorist threat.”

In March 2019 police in Barcelona arrested a man who reportedly tried to stab several police officers.

Respected Spanish newspaper El Pais said he shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ after he was detained and told officers he was a ‘messenger’ whose mission was “to kill them all.”

At the start of May a knifeman who stabbed a woman to death in a Barcelona suburb reportedly shouted: ‘Allah is Great’ before targeting his young victim.

Pictures of the killer prowling the street before the horror daytime murder went viral.

Locals in Esplugues de Llobregat near Barcelona where the 11am stabbing occurred on May 2 said afterwards they had seen the suspect in the area in the days before the incident.

The brutal killing occurred in a residential area near Sant Joan Deu Hospital.

Although initial reports claimed the stab victim was a minor, she turned out to be a 41-year-old Chinese woman.

The suspect, a 37-year-old Moroccan, was arrested shortly after the incident.