Spain terror attacks: 13 killed and 100 injured – as it happened

Spanish public broadcaster RTVE says one suspect in the Barcelona van attack has been arrested.

The US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has offered his condolences for the loss of life in Barcelona. He also warned terrorists they would be brought to justice in the wake of the Las Ramblas attack.

Terrorists around the world should know, the United States and our allies are resolved to find you and bring you to justice.

Tillerson, who was speaking at a press conference, also urged US nationals in the city to check in with their families.

The attack took place in central Barcelona. Las Ramblas, a street of stalls and shops that cuts through the centre of Barcelona, is one of the city’s top tourist destinations. People walk down a wide, pedestrianised path in the centre of the street, but cars can travel on either side.

17 Aug 201713.34 EDT

Carmen Fishwick

A video posted to social media shows more than 12 injured people lying on the ground next to souvenir shops in front of Maccabi restaurant in Las Ramblas.

As well as uniformed emergency service personnel, a number of people dressed casually in shorts and t-shirts can be seen offering help and tending to the wounded.

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17 Aug 201713.33 EDT

Martin Belam

Despite an appeal by Spanish police not to circulate images of those injured in the attack, there have been some graphic videos and images posted to social media this evening, as well as video that appears to depict the movements of armed police as they search for suspects.

Residents of Barcelona, and social media users from further afield, have tried to combat the spread of these images with a seemingly bizarre tactic - flooding the #barcelona hashtag with images of cute kittens.

It was a tactic employed by Belgian social media users in 2015. Police there asked citizens not to tweet about armed counter-terror operations being carried out around the country, and told people to stay indoors and not go near windows. Belgians reacted by using the #BrusselsLockdown hashtag to share pictures of their pets and make jokes.

Social media reactions like this can often seem glib and superficial in the face of the events that have sparked them, but academics have argued that they can play a role in dealing with collective national trauma.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has tweeted his condolences.

He said: “My thoughts are with the victims of this barbaric terrorist attack in the great city of Barcelona and with their brave emergency services.”

He added that London stands with Barcelona.

Witnesses to the attack in Barcelona described how a white van hurtled through crowds without slowing down.

Many were forced to take shelter in nearby shops and hotels, while others reported hearing gunshots.

Tom Gueller, who lives on a road adjoining the site of the attack, was forced to flee when the vehicle began hitting pedestrians.

He told BBC’s PM:

I heard screams and a bit of a crash and then I just saw the crowd parting and this van going full pelt down the middle of the Ramblas, and I immediately knew that it was a terrorist attack or something like that. I ran away, I mean I live near, I had to run back about 50 metres or so and go up to my flat and obviously see what’s happening on the road from my balcony.

Asked about the van, he said: “It wasn’t slowing down at all. It was just going straight through the middle of the crowds in the middle of Las Ramblas.”

Will Ako, 26, from London, was eating in a restaurant called Taller De Tapas with his family when they heard a disturbance.

He told Press Association:

We had just finished eating and were about to leave when we heard a commotion and the patrons in the restaurant rushing from their seats. I then saw people running to the east of the restaurant and I saw a couple of people, about 30 yards down the road, crouching around what looked like someone on the ground and they were calling for assistance. Within a couple of minutes, police started to arrive and they were running west of the restaurant and some were telling us to stay inside. Soon after, loads of cars, bikes and ambulances arrived and then the armed police.

He said he was in the restaurant with around 40 people, adding: “We’re not sure what’s happening.”

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17 Aug 201713.17 EDT

Vikram Dodd

For now we don’t know who was responsible for the attack, nor what the motive was.

However, we do know that the use of vehicles to drive into civilians is a mode of attack hugely difficult to stop.

Atrocities involving vehicle attacks have been carried out in France, Germany and Britain. Such vehicle attacks generally require very little planning, and no wider network, leaving little or no opportunity for the authorities to detect and stop them.

Las Ramblas was full of people, is largely or wholly open, with few obstacles to block the path of any vehicle.

Options to make a vehicle attack harder include making renting vehicles harder and placing barriers to limit how far an attacker could drive as they mow civilians down.

Police have confirmed that one person has died and that 32 people have been injured, 10 of them seriously.

There has been some confusion, as is typical in these situations, about the number of fatalities. Local media outlets are reporting that 13 have died, citing police sources. Other media, including El Pais, are saying there were at least 10 deaths.

In a tweet, Catalan police confirmed they were dealing with a terrorist attack.

“Terrorist attack confirmed,” they said. “The terrorist attack protocol has been activated.”