Inside Spain's quiet fight on the frontline of Europe's war on terror

While geographically distant from the battlegrounds of Iraq and Syria, Spain has still become a focal point for terrorism-related activity because of its history and position between North Africa and Western Europe.

In the years since the devastating 2004 train attacks in Madrid — the deadliest attack in Europe so far this century — Spain has intensified efforts to uncover, monitor, and disrupt terrorist activity and plots — though such networks have been resilient.

Terrorism is not new in Spain. Starting in 1961, the ETA, a Basque separatist movement, launched hundreds of attacks around the country, killing more than 800 civilians and security personnel. (The ETA announced the end of its armed campaign in 2011.)

But prior to the March 2004 train bombings, carried out by Al Qaeda, Spanish authorities gave little attention to Islamist terrorism.

Imad Eddin Barakat, one of the founders of Al Qaeda in Spain, was able to see off fighters bound for Bosnia or Chechnya from the capital's Barajas airport, according to El Pais. And he was able to greet wounded fighters in Madrid when they returned, shepherding them to state-run hospitals for treatment.

Since then, Spanish security forces have led the continent in their anti-terrorism efforts. They have made more than 700 arrests, and dozens of convictions have yielded 120 prisoners and no attacks since March 2004.

This record has been secured in part by proactive measures as well as domestic factors. Hundreds of agents from the country's Civil Guard, National Police, and National Intelligence Center cull social-media networks, investigate domestic activity, recruit informants, and research ISIS and other groups like it.

The North African exclaves of Melilla and Ceuta are a locus for this activity.

When six suspects were arrested in Ceuta in early 2015, the country's interior ministry said they were "

Melilla is only 12 square kilometers in size but has five security agencies operating within it, including Morocco's General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance and Israel's Mossad (though some Spanish officials regard the Moroccans warily).

An early 2015 report also indicated that Spain had long been a major finance hub for terrorists in Syria and Iraq, using a network of businesses to transfer money. The network made use of the informal and hard-to-track hawala system, which facilitates transfers without physically moving the money.

At the time, the network of hawala dealers in Spain was also reportedly used to pay jihadists from the country who had gone to Syria.

Inside Spain's quiet fight on the frontline of Europe's war on terror

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