At 1:55 p.m., on Saturday of last week, police learned that a man had stabbed three people in a small square on Martinez de la Riva Street, in the Puente de Vallecas area of Madrid. It was a … A sudden attack, without any motive, because the attacker was not known and the victims suffered minor injuries. Until then, another accident among many in the capital. But at 4:45 p.m. The scene changes: a 16-year-old teenager calls 091 and says that his 18-year-old Spanish brother, although of North African origin, is carrying a large knife and is very upset inside the family home, at number 69 Peña de Atalaia Street.
Suspecting that it could be the same person – because of the proximity between the two points, among other details – all national and municipal police patrols in the area go there. They talk to the child to get more details about what is happening and try to convince the barricaded man to surrender, but… responds with Death threats.
Thus, the Operational Anti-Terrorism Subgroup (SOAR), equipped with machine guns, was activated. Officers knock on the door but the suspect does not answer. From within, the threats continue. Prayers are heard in Arabic and they shout that they will go with him. So they decide to go in, even though they know it’s dangerous. When they broke the door, the young man rushed towards them, armed with a knife, screaming “God is great!” (“God is great!”). The police have to open fire and the attacker is shot three times.
Since Saturday, the police decided that the incident was jihadist and referred the investigation to the Regional Information Brigade. In addition, the proceedings were initiated under the direction of Judge Maria Tardone because they involved an alleged terrorist offence. “We have no doubt. next to, Profile of this individual“People with these characteristics, who are unstable and without social relationships, is the classic type of lone actors, and we pay a lot of attention to those who have these characteristics,” research sources say. “Now we are working to understand what their radicalization process was like.”
Most surprising of all is that this is not the first time that Fernando Grande Marlasca’s administration has refused to make a public assessment of events as serious as or more serious than those that occurred in Madrid.
Despite the seriousness of the incident, the Ministry of Interior did not comment on the matter. As on other occasions, he remained silent, even though we were still in chaos Terrorist alert level 4 out of 5 We are approaching very sensitive dates, namely the Christmas holiday, when security forces will be on special alert to avoid attacks by jihadist terrorism.
Most surprising of all is that this is not the first time the administration has done this Fernando Grande Marlaska He refuses to make a public assessment of events as serious as or more serious than those that occurred in Madrid.
On 13 October 2021, Grande-Marlaska censured Fox in Congress for linking the attack on 17 September in a bar in Torre-Pacheco (Murcia) to a terrorist attack, also stating that it may have been due to the actions of a person with mental problems. However, by then, the information headquarters of the Guardia Civil, regardless of the individual’s mental health, was already clear that it was a jihadist attack.
Stuck knife
The truth is that researchers knew this from the beginning. They found the attacker in the car, stabbed with a knife. He had placed the handle on the steering wheel and the tip of the blade on his body, so as to stab him at the moment of impact. In addition, they found three notes in the car in which he talked about a “terrorist attack” and “Islam,” in addition to other considerations related to his stay in juvenile detention centers. In all the entries the Shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith, was written in Arabic: «There is no god but Allah and Muhammad He is his prophet. The National Court investigated the case when Judge Alejandro Abascal deemed it a terrorist act.
Two years later, in January 2023, Marlaska again showed his reluctance to classify the killing of a priest in Algeciras as a terrorist attack, in an event in which a priest was also very seriously injured. This is despite the fact that it is true National court judge Joaquin Gadea wrote in the order that allowed him to enter and search the home of the perpetrator that he acted based on a “terrorist will” that he later linked to “Salafist jihadism.”
“It seems that if this is not talked about, the problem does not exist, and this is wrong. The sources consulted by ABC added: “One day something really serious will happen and its impact on society will be much greater.”
Well, as the Ministry of Interior stated at the time, the killer did not have a jihadist profile, contrary to the standards of investigators who stated that regardless of the assailant’s health condition, his motives were unambiguously jihadist. No one from the government attended the funeral. And on this particular Friday, the National Court acquitted the accused by appreciating the full defense of psychological change, contrary to what was confirmed by the Prosecutor and the trial judge, who issued a dissenting vote, among other reasons because with this ruling the victims would be left without state assistance.
“No instructions”
The ABC has contacted the Home Office to find out the reasons for this change in position in relation to what was happening with ETA terrorism, as that Ministry not only issued information about any incident, but also made assessments that it considered appropriate at all times. “nothing There are no instructions about this“Although we are trying to be very careful until we know exactly what happened,” the ministry says.
However, there are those who offer less friendly explanations: “It gives the impression that they don’t want to talk about this kind of issue so that it goes unnoticed,” say counter-terrorism sources consulted by the ABC, who are astonished at its minimal social and media impact. «It seems that if we do not talk about this, it does not exist. The problem is, it is wrong. They added: “One day something really serious will happen and its impact on society will be much greater.”
It is also striking that during Marlaska’s seven years as Interior Minister, he only once invited political parties to talk about terrorism. This was in October 2023, as part of the military response For Israel in Gaza After the brutal terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas and after two jihadist attacks in France and Belgium.
The Minister did not consider, either before or after, it was appropriate to meet with representatives of the opposition despite the occurrence of jihadist attacks that led to deaths, as previously mentioned.
The truth is that if he did not do so, it was his decision, because the Popular Party requested on several occasions to call a meeting of the parties. Signatories to the Anti-Terrorism CharterBy the way, one of them is on the occasion of the murder in Algeciras. However, this request does not mean that it was not taken care of by the Ministry of Interior; Which is that he doesn’t even deserve a response from him.