22-year-old Spaniard detained en route to Syria charged of terrorism

A Spanish judge on Wednesday sent a 22-year-old woman who was detained at Madrid's Barajas Airport on Tuesday to prison on charges of terrorism.

The 22-year-old, who has Spanish parents and is from the province of Huelva in the southwest of Spain, was stopped as she was about to board a flight to Turkey with the intention of then continuing to Syria to join the Islamic State (DAESH).

She had been described by people from her home town of Almonte as a "normal Catholic girl" who did not speak Arabic and who did not wear Muslim clothing. She converted to the religion around a year ago.

Judicial sources say the young woman had left her family home because of her decision to change religions.

She used social networks as well as WhatsApp and Surespot to contact those who had convinced her to try and leave her homeland, the sources said.

At the time the woman was arrested she was carrying a friend's passport. This person has also been charged by the Spanish Civil Guard and will have to appear before a judge.

Two mobile phones were also taken at the time of the woman's arrest, one of which belonged to her, and another, which she allegedly tried to throw down the toilet.

Security forces are now working to retrieve the information stored on the memory card of the second phone.

This arrest brings the number of people arrested for links to jihadism during the past four years to 157, while around 130 people are thought to have left the country to join jihadist groups. Endit