Suspected extremist detained in Spain

Spanish Civil Guards on Thursday arrested a man in the city of Las Palmas (Gran Canary Island) under suspicion of spreading extremist propaganda in favor of the Islamic State (IS) over the internet.

The Interior Ministry confirmed that the detainee is a 31-year-old Spaniard, who was born in Jordan and resident in Germany.

He carried out "intense activity" on social network sites to spread a "terrorist ideology" and had "incited other users to carry out jihadist violence," the Ministry commented, adding that his activity had first been detected in 2016 on his Facebook page.

The suspect had abandoned Spain with his wife and children to live in Germany in 2017, but "thanks to international collaboration," his return to Spain was detected and led to his detention.

Tuesday saw a 24-year-old Moroccan arrested in the Basque region of northern Spain for similar offences.

Some 280 suspected extremists have been arrested in Spain since the start of 2015, partly due to the Interior Ministry focusing attention on the activity of terror sympathizers online.