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SPAIN TERROR WARNING: New ISIS threat revealed for holidaymakers in the Costa del Sol

Март 10, 2016     Автор: Юлия Клюева
SPAIN TERROR WARNING: New ISIS threat revealed for holidaymakers in the Costa del Sol

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BRITISH sunseekers are being warned to expect a terror attack in popular Spanish resorts as the annual rush to bag bargain holiday deals in the run up to the summer gets underway.

SPAIN TERROR WARNING: New ISIS threat revealed for holidaymakers in the Costa del Sol

A leading security expert has issued a warning for a Paris-style attack, singling out Costa Brava, Costa Blanca and Costa Del Sol as at particular risk.

The alert follows a warning by Spain's Guardia Civil about an imminent attack.

It comes just weeks after a leaked security document from the country's police force declared Spain, France, Belgium, Italy and the US were at risk of a terror attack "like the one in Paris".

Spain has been at a heightened state of alert since the Tunisian terror attacks in June 2015, which targeted holidaymakers and saw 30 Britons killed.

Home Office guidance also states there is a "high threat" of terrorism in Spain.

Will Geddes, head of global security firm International Corporate Protection, said the threat from prolific terror group Islamic State had steadily increased.

He told Daily Star Online: "Spain has had a history of terrorist threats from ETA the Basque separatists to al-Qaeda and the devastating Madrid bombings.

"However since last summer, the threat from ISIS radicals has increased as predicted."

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In January, ISIS issued a chilling threat to launch terror attacks in Spain, declaring: "We will recover our land from the invaders."

The jihadist group released a propaganda video featuring an ancient map of the Iberian Peninsula, which slowly turns to red.

More than 12 million UK-based holidaymakers travel to Spain every year, with Majorca, Tenerife and Ibiza the most popular destinations last summer.

But after last year's massacre in nearby Tunisia, a Foreign Office spokesman warned British nationals should be "vigilant" if travelling to Spain.

Mr Geddes also highlighted Turkey, France and Germany as potential targets.

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He said: "In Turkey, there continues to be threats from the PKK [The Kurdistan Workers’ Party], a threat for more than a decade and the increasing emergence of Islamic extremists looking to push forward Sharia law there.

"France has historically had its problems from the GIA, the Algerian-based terror group."

But the security expert said "recent attacks and ongoing campaign from Islamic State now eclipses those".

He added that Germany and Italy "have their own terrorism issues entirely".

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Despite the heightened fears, Mr Geddes explained that the terror threat should not stop families from going on holiday.

"We cannot allow the threat of terrorism to intimidate us and restrict our movement.

"If we do so, we're allowing the enemy to win."