MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United States had no information about the preparation of the terrorist act in the Catalan city of Barcelona prior to it happening, the US consul general in Barcelona said in an interview with Beteve broadcaster, refuting media reports on the issue.
On August 17, deadly ramming attacks hit Barcelona as well as another Catalan city, Cambrils. On August 31, Spanish daily El Periodico reported that back in May, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had warned Catalonia's authorities about a terror attack in preparation in Barcelona by the Daesh terrorist group (banned in many countries).
"There are thousands and thousands of messages and threats on the internet. As far as I know, we had no specific information concerning the terror act at La Rambla [in Barcelona]. If we had had any, we would have to inform the US citizens about it and try to prevent this," Marcos Mandojana said on Thursday.
On August 31, the Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, refuted the claims of the CIA's warning about the terror attack being prepared.
The attacks in Catalonia, treated by the authorities as acts of terrorism, left 16 people dead and over 130 injured. The IS has reportedly claimed responsibility for the Barcelona attack.
