Status: 01/26/2023 3:50 p.m
A man with a machete killed one and injured several in southern Spain. The arrested man was under police surveillance for radicalization. Investigators are examining a terrorist motive.
After the deadly attack in two churches in Algeciras, southern Spain, details of the alleged perpetrator became known. The Interior Ministry confirmed media reports that the 25-year-old Moroccan had been observed by the police for radicalization. Accordingly, the man had been illegally in Spain, a deportation process has been running since the summer. He has no criminal record and is still being interrogated, according to the Interior Ministry.
Investigators searched the suspect’s home to find out more about the motive. “The result can of course provide information about the nature of the act, whether it was a terrorist act or something else,” said Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska. The public prosecutor’s office took up terrorism investigations. Grande-Marlaska confirmed there were no other suspects.
Altar boy killed, priest badly injured
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the alleged perpetrator entered the church of San Isidro with a machete around 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening. According to eyewitness reports, he shouted “For Allah”. In the church he seriously injured a priest with a machete. Then ran to the church of Nuestra Señora de La Palma, where he attacked an altar boy. He fled and was fatally injured in front of the church.
Three other people were injured when they opposed the perpetrator. The man tried to break into a third church, but the door was locked. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested by the police.
Hundreds of people gather in Algeciras, Spain, after a minute’s silence for a church altar boy who was killed.
Image: dpa
Muslim community condemns Tat
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his “deepest condolences” to the family of the killed acolyte. The Islamic Commission in Spain condemned the “murderous action” in Algeciras and called the attack on “innocent believers in a holy place” an “insult to God”. The city’s Muslim community also strongly condemned the attack.
Grande-Marlaska dropped out of a meeting of EU interior ministers on returning migrants to their home countries to travel to Algeciras. The Ministry of the Interior wrote on Twitter that he wanted to show his solidarity and support for the relatives of the victim and the injured on site.
Algeciras Mayor José Ignacio Landaluce ordered a day of mourning in the city of around 120,000. Hundreds of people gathered for a minute’s silence, laid flowers and lit candles.
Church representatives express horror and sadness
The Secretary General of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, Francisco Garcia, spoke of a “reprehensible and abominable act”. The case is related to hatred of the faith. At the same time, Garcia warned, according to the Spanish radio station “Cope”, “not to fall into provocations” or “to pour oil on the fire”. The police and judiciary would have to determine the exact background of the crime.
Church representatives in Germany were also shocked. “The news of yesterday’s terrorist attack in the Spanish city of Algeciras fills me with deep horror and sadness,” said Bishop Georg Bätzing, chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference. Andalusia has an eventful history of religious and political conflicts and also of peaceful coexistence of people of different faiths. “Fanatics must not be allowed to destroy the good coexistence that prevails there today,” said Bätzing: “Religion must never be the reason or occasion for acts of violence!”