Spain in the Eye of the Storm of Jihad

by Soeren Kern • June 6, 2015 at 5:00 am

The Islamists are especially interested in converts who have not yet taken on Muslim names and whose official IDs still have their Christian names, so they can purchase weapons without drawing the attention of police.
At least 50,000 Muslim converts are currently living in Spain. Police say that converts are especially susceptible to radicalization because they are facing increasing pressure from Islamists who are calling on them to carry out attacks to "demonstrate their commitment" to their new faith.
Spain has also become a key entry point for human trafficking mafias being used by jihadist veterans seeking to return to Europe after fighting in the Middle East.
"Turkey is the Seven-Eleven of false passports." — Spanish agent working on a human trafficking case.

A tweeted photo of an Islamic State supporter holding the Islamic State's black flag of jihad in front of Aljafería Palace in Zaragoza, Spain.

Spanish security forces have arrested a total of 568 jihadists over the past ten years in 124 separate operations against Islamic terrorism, Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz revealed at an African security conference in Niger on May 14.

Fernández Díaz said that "constant police and judicial actions" have helped Spanish authorities prevent another large-scale terrorist attack similar to the March 2004 Madrid train bombings, in which nearly 200 people were killed and more than 2,000 were injured.

At the same time, Fernández Díaz has warned that it is "very probable" that Islamic terrorists will strike Spain at some point in the future; he has estimated the probability of an attack to be 70%.