13 anarchists arrested on terrorism charges in Spain

Spanish national police arrested a total of 13 people in four Spanish cities on Monday in an operation directed against an anarchist collective.

The arrests were in Madrid, Barcelona, Palencia and Granada against presumed members of a collective known as Co-ordinated Anarchist Groups (GAC), who face changes of belonging to a criminal organization with terrorist aims, sabotage, and the placement of explosive or incendiary devices.

The GAC is thought to have been responsible for planting explosive devices in the Basilica del Pilar in Zaragoza two years ago, as well as a device which exploded in the Cathedral de la Almudena in Madrid, causing in both cases material damage but no injuries.

They are also accused of having carried out attacks against 113 cashpoint machines.

A number of 14 other people were also detained on charges of resisting police authority. These arrests took place in Madrid during one of the 16 different searches, many of occupied buildings and also social centers that the police carried out as part of the operation, which has been named "Operation Pinata".

Spain's Secretary of State for Security Francisco Martinez explained that the "police have not ceased in their investigations in the job of preventing these kind of groups growing or expanding."

Meanwhile supporters of the collective have called for a protest in the central Madrid square of Tirso de Molina for Monday evening. Endit