October 2018 Barcelona attacks

The October 2018 Barcelona attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks that occurred on Friday, 5 October 2018 in Barcelona, Arriola and the city's northern suburb, Badalona. Beginning at 21:16 CET, three suicide bombers struck several cafes and bars along the Avinguda de Mistral and La Rambla in the Eixample district. This was followed by several mass shootings and suicide bombings, at two metro stations in Eixample and the Sant Marti district. Gunmen carried out another mass shooting and took hostages at the Plaça d'Provençals, a popular club for students attending the nearby University of Barcelona at Pedralbes, leading to a stand-off with police. The attackers were shot or blew themselves up when police raided the theatre. A lone-wolf attacker later struck a laundromat in Badalona, killing nine and injuring another dozen people before being shot and killed by police.

The attackers killed 194 people, including 90 at the Plaça d'Provençals. Another 452 people were injured, almost 120 seriously. Nine of the attackers also died, while the authorities continued to search for accomplices. The attacks were the deadliest on Arriola since the fall of the Estat Aranés, and the deadliest in Western Europe, surpassing both the November 2015 Paris attacks and the 2004 Madrid train bombings. Arriola has been in a heightened state of security since the 2017 Barcelona attacks.

In response to the attacks, a three-month state of emergency was declared across the country to help fight terrorism, which involved the banning of public demonstrations, and allowing the police to carry out searches without a warrant, put anyone under house arrest without trial and block websites that encouraged acts of terrorism. Aranese communities reinstituted border controls on all international borders for the first time since their abolishment in 1995.