Moment jihadi terror fanatic who planned to film machete or machine gun attack on Brit tourists is arrested in Spain

THIS is the moment cops arrest an alleged jihadi terror fanatic who was planning to film a machete or machine gun attack on Brit tourists.

Spain’s National Police and Civil Guard, in collaboration with the FBI, detained the 26-year-old man in Girona, who is thought to have been devising an attack on Benidorm’s beaches.

The man, named locally as Fath Allah Benhachem Grarrass, is of Moroccan origin with Spanish nationality.

He is said to have been in an "advanced process of jihadist radicalisation" and with a "profile of great violence and aggressiveness ". 

According to the investigation, the arrested man "had expressed his interest in acquiring weapons for the commission of a potential attack on the beaches of the town of Benidorm."

The Costa Blanca resort is popular spot for Brit holidaymakers.

The investigators verified that he had been watching the execution of jihadist attacks in Europe.

The same day he was arrested, the detainee searched how to carry out stabbings and attacks carried out with this type of bladed weapons, the Ministry of the Interior said.

This is the first operation reported by the Ministry of the Interior after the deadly attack with a machete in Algeciras, Cádiz.

Reports claim he was planning to film his evil machine gun attack and post footage of it on social media networks run by ISIS, or Islamic State.

He is also said to have looked up how to make a peroxide based-explosive known as Mother of Satan on the Dark Web.

The material, also known as TATP, was previously used by ISIS terrorists in the deadly 2018 attacks in Barcelona's Las Ramblas and nearby Cambrils.

Spanish Interior Ministry Sources claimed Grarrass regularly watched videos of Islamist extremist attacks in Europe to "improve his technique".

One video of a stabbing on a train he allegedly watched 18 times.

He was arrested just two hours before another Moroccan national killed a man and wounded a priest in a horror machete attack on a church in Algeciras, close to Gibraltar.

It isn't known if there is any link between the two attacks.

The FBI worked alongside Spanish cops and the Civil Guard to identify the man and make the arrest, a police spokesman revealed.

He said: "An individual of Moroccan origin with Spanish nationality has been arrested in Girona for his alleged links to terrorist crimes."

The spokesman said that the suspect "was in an advanced stage of jihadist radicalisation and had a very violent and aggressive profile".

He added: "He maintained active profiles on different social media platforms and used the Dark Web to advance his terrorist plans. He also used the Internet to show his support for ISIS and to obtain self-teach manuals about the use of weapons and explosives and to acquire weapons.

"Investigators also confirmed he viewed Islamic extremist attacks in Europe.

"The same day of his arrest he carried out online searches on how to carry out stabbings and other attacks with bladed weapons.

"International cooperation has been essential in this investigation with the FBI playing a vital role in identifying and neutralising this suspected terrorist."

Updating its advice to Brits heading for Spain, the British government said: "Terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Spain.

"Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners. The Spanish authorities take measures to protect visitors, but you should be vigilant and follow the instructions of the local authorities."

On January 25, there was a terrorist-related incident where a man carrying a machete attacked two churches in the southern Spanish city of Algeciras, in Cadiz, resulting in injuries and the loss of one life.