Spanish Interior Ministry to compile passenger database to combat jihadist terrorism

The Spanish government is to begin compiling a database of airline passengers in an attempt to stop jihadists and other dangerous criminals from entering the country.

The government raised the level of security alert from two to three on Wednesday, El Pais newspaper said, citing government sources in confirming that the decision to use the controversial passenger name record (PNR) was also taken in the wake of Wednesday's terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris which left 12 people dead.

The PNR can be used to collect information on flight reservations, including how they were made and paid for, and also check if the route being taken is one used often by terrorists, thus allowing police to trace suspects before and during their flights and detain them at any point of their journey.

However, the PNR is controversial as it was rejected by the Committee on Civil Liberties of the European Parliament in April 2013. The Committee considered it violated the civil rights of all air travelers and that opinion was supported by the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), the United Left (IU), and Greens.

El Pais reported that Spain would proceed with the system because it believes PNR does not violate EU regulations on privacy protection, while 14 other EU nations also want to introduce PNR, which is already being used by the United States, Canada and Australia to monitor possible terrorists.

A major problem for Spain is the threat of Spanish nationals who have been recruited to fight for groups such as Islamic State in countries such as Syria, Iraq or Mali returning to their homeland as highly trained fighters to carry out terrorist actions in Spain.

The year 2014 saw a series of high-profile operations in Spain aimed at dismantling recruitment networks for jihadist groups and although many of the arrests made during the year, there were also detentions in mainland cities such as Barcelona, Murcia, and Almeria. Endit