Greater security in airports and tourist belts in Spain following attack in Nice
Saturday, July 16, 2016 @ 11:47 PM
SPAIN'S interior ministry has announced plans to tighten security in areas frequented by tourists, including the coasts and major monuments, and to reinforce border controls following the Nice attack which has killed over 80 people.
As yet, the country has no plans to increase its terrorism risk level from 4, the highest being 5 which would imply the Armed Forces patrolling the streets.
The so-called Islamic State, or DAESH, has owned up to the attack in which a 31-year-old Tunisian with French nationality ploughed through spectators at the 'Bastille Day' fireworks on July 14.
Armed police will be on patrol in airports across the country, and the extra controls planned at the French border - which were due to cease on July 26 - will continue until further notice.
A crisis meeting with the government's anti-terrorism squad, including members of the CNI, or national Intelligence service, was held the morning after the massacre in Nice, and acting president Mariano Rajoy says the country will ensure its authorities are increasingly more united in the face of the global threat.
He pointed out that the close unity and emphasis on peace and freedom were the strategies that eventually brought an end to the 40-year reign of terror by the Basque separatist cell ETA.
The government has called for close cooperation from the general public, urging them to report any signs of possible radicalisation anonymously via the freephone number 900 822 066 or the email stop-racismos@interior.es, or using the mobile phone App AlertCops.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com