Barcelona attack: Royals attend special Mass for victims

King Felipe and Queen Letizia have attended Barcelona’s famous Sagrada Familia to mourn the 14 people killed in vehicle attacks in Catalonia.

Police are still hunting the driver of a van that killed 13 at Barcelona’s Las Ramblas. A 14th victim died in a second attack at Cambrils.

Ministers say the jihadist cell behind the attacks has been dismantled.

But police are still hunting for the van driver and an imam missing from a mosque in the town of Ripoll.

Sunday’s special Mass was celebrated at the iconic, Gaudi-designed Sagrada Familia.

Some reports in Spanish media say the jihadist cell had intended to target the church with explosives.

PM Mariano Rajoy also attended the Mass, where there was tight security, with snipers on rooftops outside.

Cardinal Juan José Omella, the Archbishop of Barcelona, called for peace and unity, saying: “We will overcome fear.”

He read a message from Pope Francis, which said the pontiff “condemns once again the violence, which is a very grave offence against the creator, and he prays to God for help so we can continue working for peace and harmony in the world”.

Cardinal Omella also said at the Mass, in fiercely independent Catalonia: “The union makes us strong, the division corrodes us and destroys us.”

On Saturday, the royal couple laid a wreath at the site of the attack at Las Ramblas, accompanied by Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau and Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont.

Later on Sunday, Barcelona FC will hold their first league game of the season, with 100,000 expected at the Camp Nou, where there will be a minute’s silence.

On Saturday, Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said the jihadist cell behind the attacks, believed to be about 12 strong, had been fully dismantled, despite the continuing search for the driver.

Catalan Interior Minster Joaquim Forn was more circumspect, stressing that the police operation could not be considered over until all those suspected of being part of the cell were in custody.

Moroccan-born Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, believed to be the van driver who escaped after the Barcelona attack, remains the focus of the manhunt.

However, there is also a search for an imam of the mosque at Ripoll, the town north of Barcelona where a number of the suspected cell members came from.

The apartment of the imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, was raided on Saturday.

The imam apparently left the mosque abruptly in June and has not been seen since. The mosque president said he had told him he wanted to go back to Morocco.

Police sources and Spanish media say Mr Es Satty may have died in an explosion at a house in Alcanar, south of Barcelona, on Wednesday night.

BBC