MADRID – The Spanish court of the Audiencia Nacional sentenced the three accused of the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils (Tarragona) in the summer of 2017 to sentences ranging from 8 to 53 years. Among the 16 victims there were also three Italians. The three convicted are Mohamed Houli, who was sentenced to 53 years for belonging to a terrorist group and possession and manufacture of explosive materials, Driss Oukabir (sentenced to 46 years for the same crimes) and Said Ben Iazza (8 years for collaboration with terrorist organization). They were accused of having been part of the terrorist cell that committed the two attacks of August 2017 in Catalonia, one in the center of Barcelona and one in the town of Cambrils, in the province of Tarragona.
None of the three, however, is considered the material author of the attacks; the people held physically responsible all died under the blows of the police.
In the first of the two attacks, a van driven by Younes Abouyaaqoub hit dozens of people on the Rambla in Barcelona, the main tourist street of the city in the afternoon of 17 August 2017: 14 people died and dozens more were injured.
The man was then intercepted days later and killed by the police. After escaping from La Rambla, he had stolen a car and also killed the man driving the vehicle.
On the night between 17 and 18 August, other members of the terrorist cell rushed in a car against a police checkpoint in Cambrils after running over some people. Once out of the vehicle, they attacked the agents, who opened fire and killed them. A woman died as a result of this attack.
Two other people considered members of the jihadist group, including the alleged leader of the organization, died the evening before the attacks due to a strong explosion in a house they had occupied in Alcanar (Tarragona). The three convicted today can appeal against the sentences issued against them. The penalties imposed on Houli and Oukabir are higher than those required by the prosecutor.
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