Barcelona Balances Security And Freedom After Deadly Attacks

Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia, hit last week by two Islamist militant attacks which killed 15 people, is to deploy more police, install bollards in Barcelona and step up security around stations and tourist landmarks.

The aim is to strike a balance between security and not overloading residents with restrictions.

"We're looking at introducing (street) obstacles that could be mobile," Joaquin Forn, who is in charge of home affairs in Catalonia, told a news conference on Wednesday.

A van plowed into crowds of holidaymakers and local residents on Barcelona's crowded Las Ramblas boulevard last Thursday, killing 13 people. Two others were killed during the driver's getaway and in a separate attack in Cambrils.

The Barcelona rampage reignited a row over how cities can better prevent such attacks. Militants have used trucks and cars as weapons to kill nearly 130 people in France, Germany, Britain, Sweden and Spain over the past 13 months.

Catalan authorities may also erect some permanent barriers and turn some streets into pedestrian-only thoroughfares, Forn said.

The regional capital, which receives around 30 million visitors a year, is home to several landmarks designed by architect Antoni Gaudi, including the towering Sagrada Familia. Forn added that some 10 percent more police would be deployed.

Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attacks in Catalonia, issued a video via one of its official channels on Wednesday showing two of its fighters making threats in Spanish against Spain, interspersed with images of the aftermath of the Barcelona attack.

One fighter pledged to avenge Muslim blood spilled by the Spanish Inquisition, established in 1478, and what he said was the killing Spain was currently engaged in against Islamic State.

An armed Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra officer stands guard at a security checkpoint in Ripoll, north of Barcelona, Spain, August 19, 2017.

This was an apparent reference to Iraq, where Spain has several hundred soldiers training local forces in the fight against Islamic State.