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2017 Barcelona and Cambrils attacks

SOLVED2017La Rambla, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

On the night of 16 August 2017, an explosion destroyed a house in Alcanar, a town in Catalonia, Spain, killing two members of a terrorist cell as they handled explosives, including Abdelbaki Es Satty, an imam in the nearby town of Ripoll whom investigators identified as the group's chief organizer. More than 120 gas canisters were found at the property; investigators believe the group had intended to build one large bomb, or three smaller bombs to be placed in three rented vans, and detonated the explosives by accident while assembling them. The next afternoon, 17 August, a rented van was driven into pedestrians along a roughly 550-metre stretch of La Rambla, a pedestrian street in central Barcelona, killing 13 people at the scene and injuring more than 130. The driver escaped on foot, then fatally stabbed Pau Pérez in order to steal his car and flee the city. One of the people injured on La Rambla later died of their injuries, on 27 August, bringing that attack's death toll to 14.

About nine hours after the Barcelona attack, five men linked to the same cell drove a car into a crowd of pedestrians in the coastal town of Cambrils at around 1:00 am on 18 August, then attacked bystanders with knives while wearing fake suicide vests. The attack killed a 63-year-old Spanish woman and injured six others, including a Cuban tourist and a police officer. A police officer shot and killed four of the five attackers at the scene; the fifth died of his injuries hours later. Police continued searching for the driver of the La Rambla van in the days that followed, and on 21 August, officers shot and killed him near vineyards in Subirats, a town about 31 kilometres west of Barcelona, after a local resident reported a stranger in the area.

In total, 16 people were killed across the two attacks, not counting eight attackers who also died; eleven of the sixteen were foreign nationals, and ten of those were tourists. More than 130 people were injured. Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, described the Barcelona attack as jihadist, and the Islamic State-linked Amaq News Agency claimed indirect responsibility for the cell. Chief Josep Lluís Trapero of the Mossos d'Esquadra, the Catalan police force, said investigators were working on the theory that the Cambrils attack and the Alcanar explosion were connected to the Barcelona attack. Police arrested four additional men in the days after the attacks; two were released within about a week on conditions that included surrendering their passports.

In May 2021, Spain's National Audience court convicted three men of offenses connected to the plot. Mohamed Houli Chemlal, who survived the Alcanar explosion, and Driss Oukabir, whose identity document was used to rent the van for the La Rambla attack and who told police it had been stolen, were both convicted of belonging to a terrorist organization and of murder, and sentenced to more than 53 and 46 years in prison respectively; both were acquitted of terrorist-homicide charges. A third man, Said Ben Iazza, was convicted of collaborating with the cell and sentenced to eight years in prison. In January 2022, former police commissioner José Manuel Villarejo told Spain's High Court that the country's intelligence service had known of the plot in advance, prompting the Catalan government to call for an investigation; the claim has been widely characterized as an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory.

Key facts

Victims
Pau Pérez
Date
2017
Location
La Rambla, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 2017-08-16

    An explosion destroyed a house in Alcanar, Catalonia, killing two members of the cell preparing explosives there, including the Ripoll imam Abdelbaki Es Satty; more than 120 gas canisters were found at the property.

  2. 2017-08-17

    A rented van was driven into pedestrians on La Rambla in Barcelona, killing 13 people at the scene and injuring more than 130; the driver then fatally stabbed Pau Pérez to steal his car and flee the city.

  3. 2017-08-18

    Five men linked to the same cell drove a car into pedestrians and attacked bystanders with knives in Cambrils, killing a 63-year-old woman and injuring six others; police shot and killed four of the five at the scene, and the fifth died of his injuries hours later.

  4. 2017-08-21

    Police shot and killed the driver of the La Rambla van in Subirats, a town near Barcelona, after a resident reported a stranger in the area.

  5. 2017-08-27

    A person injured in the La Rambla attack died of their injuries, bringing the number killed in that attack to 14.

  6. 2021-05

    Spain's National Audience court convicted Mohamed Houli Chemlal, Driss Oukabir, and Said Ben Iazza of offenses connected to the attacks, sentencing Houli Chemlal and Oukabir to more than 53 and 46 years in prison respectively and Ben Iazza to 8 years for collaboration; Houli Chemlal and Oukabir were acquitted of terrorist-homicide charges.

  7. 2022-01

    Former police commissioner José Manuel Villarejo told Spain's High Court that the country's intelligence service had known of the plot in advance, prompting a Catalan government call for investigation; the claim has been widely characterized as an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory.

Best coverage

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People

  • Mohamed Houli Chemlal

    CONVICTED

    Survived the 16 August 2017 Alcanar explosion and was arrested. Charged with membership of a terrorist organization, murder, and possession of explosives; convicted in May 2021 by Spain's National Audience court and sentenced to more than 53 years in prison, while acquitted of terrorist-homicide charges.

  • Abdelbaki Es Satty

    CONVICTED

    Imam in Ripoll, Spain, convicted of drug smuggling in 2014. Investigators identified him as the organizer who radicalized the cell behind the 2017 attacks; he died in the group's Alcanar explosion on 16 August 2017, the night before the Barcelona attack.

  • Pau Pérez

    VICTIM

    Fatally stabbed near Barcelona's Zona Universitària station when his car was stolen by the fleeing driver of the La Rambla attack van.

  • Josep Lluís Trapero

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Chief of the Mossos d'Esquadra, the Catalan police force, at the time of the attacks; publicly described investigators' working theory that the Cambrils attack and the Alcanar explosion were connected to the Barcelona attack.

  • Said Ben Iazza

    CONVICTED

    Convicted in May 2021 by Spain's National Audience court of collaborating with the cell that carried out the attacks; sentenced to 8 years in prison.

  • Driss Oukabir

    CONVICTED

    Brother of one of the Cambrils attackers; his identity document was used to rent the van for the La Rambla attack, which he told police had been stolen. Charged with membership of a terrorist organization and murder; convicted in May 2021 and sentenced to more than 46 years in prison, while acquitted of terrorist-homicide charges.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Places

La Rambla, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

41.3812, 2.1733

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
On 17-18 August 2017, a terrorist cell killed 16 people in a van attack on Barcelona's La Rambla and a vehicle-and-knife attack in Cambrils, Spain; most of the attackers were killed by police or in an earlier explosion, and three associates were convicted in 2021.
Where did the crime happen?
La Rambla, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Who was convicted?
Mohamed Houli Chemlal (Survived the 16 August 2017 Alcanar explosion and was arrested. Charged with membership of a terrorist organization, murder, and possession of explosives; convicted in May 2021 by Spain's National Audience court and sentenced to more than 53 years in prison, while acquitted of terrorist-homicide charges.), Abdelbaki Es Satty (Imam in Ripoll, Spain, convicted of drug smuggling in 2014. Investigators identified him as the organizer who radicalized the cell behind the 2017 attacks; he died in the group's Alcanar explosion on 16 August 2017, the night before the Barcelona attack.), Said Ben Iazza (Convicted in May 2021 by Spain's National Audience court of collaborating with the cell that carried out the attacks; sentenced to 8 years in prison.), and Driss Oukabir (Brother of one of the Cambrils attackers; his identity document was used to rent the van for the La Rambla attack, which he told police had been stolen. Charged with membership of a terrorist organization and murder; convicted in May 2021 and sentenced to more than 46 years in prison, while acquitted of terrorist-homicide charges.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.
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Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDIC2017 Barcelona attacksWikipedia · 2026-07-12
  2. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — The GuardianThe Guardian · 2026-07-12
  3. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — BBC NewsBBC News · 2026-07-12

Record history

First published
JUL 13, 2026