MADRID (AP) — Police in Barcelona say experts found no explosives after searching a suspicious van near the landmark Sagrada Familia basilica and that concern about a possible extremist attack that prompted evacuations was a false alarm.
A spokesman with the Mossos d’Esquadra regional police said two occupants being spotted in the van near the church had raised the alarm on Tuesday evening but a bomb squad didn’t find any explosives.
The spokesman declined to be identified by name, following the force’s protocol.
Barcelona, a tourism hub in northeast Spain’s Catalonia region, and a nearby coastal town were targets of extremist attacks that killed 16 people last month.
Spain has kept its anti-terrorism security warning one level below the maximum since mid-2015.
