The statements made by the Spanish ex-commissioner José Manuel Villarejo as a defendant in a court case on the Islamist terror that shook Catalonia on 17 August 2017 and cost human lives, and which he reaffirmed and clarified on 12 January 2022, hit like a bomb. According to him, the Spanish intelligence service CNI and the Spanish leadership at the time were aware of the assassination preparations, but did not intervene to the extent necessary because they expected a political advantage for Spain if there was a public uproar in Catalonia regarding Islamist terror. After that, however, the situation slipped out of the control of the Spanish authorities. The attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils on 17 August 2017 resulted in the deaths of 16 people. At least 140 people were injured by the attacks.

Literally, the ex-commissioner, who is on trial in the so-called Tandem trial, said, among other things:

"And presumably the intention was not to provoke an attack at all, but only to create the appearance of a risk, so that Catalonia would have the need to receive support from the state. And control slipped from their hands when the imam died and the small fry didn't know how to act."

The brutal assassination rocked Catalonia under the presidency of Carles Puigdemont, who was unlawfully declared deposed, stripped of power and forced into exile by Spain a few months after. If the statements of the former Spanish commissioner turn out to be true, all those responsible, first and foremost the then Spanish President Mariano Rajoy, should be brought to justice. It will be interesting to see how Europe reacts to this scandal. State support or toleration of terrorist acts is a serious crime and must be stopped and prosecuted by all means. There is no excuse for such crimes, if they really happened.