Younes Abouyaaqoub was a Moroccan-born resident of Ripoll, Catalonia, and a member of a terror cell linked to Islamic State. He drove the van that plowed through crowds on La Rambla. After fleeing on foot, he killed another man to steal a car, then evaded a four-day manhunt before being shot dead by police in Subirats on 21 August 2017.
Known Victims
At least 13 total — known victims include:
Bruno Gulotta (35)
Luca Russo (25)
Julian Cadman (7)
Francisco Lopez Rodriguez (60)
Pau Perez (34)
Ana Maria Suarez (67)
Location
La Rambla, Barcelona, Spain
Summary
A van was deliberately driven into pedestrians on Barcelona's La Rambla in 2017, killing 13 and injuring over 130 in an Islamic State-claimed attack.
Details
On 17 August 2017, Younes Abouyaaqoub drove a rented van into crowds along La Rambla in central Barcelona, killing 13 people and injuring more than 130 from many nationalities. He fled the scene on foot, fatally stabbing Pau Perez to steal his car, which he used to break through a police checkpoint. A related vehicle attack struck Cambrils early on 18 August, where attackers killed one woman before five were shot by police. Abouyaaqoub was located and shot dead by Catalan police in Subirats on 21 August 2017. The cell had accidentally destroyed a bomb-making cache in Alcanar the night before the attack.
Overview
On 17 August 2017, a van was deliberately driven into crowds of pedestrians along La Rambla, a popular tree-lined boulevard in central Barcelona, Spain. The attack killed 13 people on the boulevard and injured well over 100. A related attack hours later in the nearby seaside town of Cambrils brought the combined death toll to 16 and left more than 130 people injured. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The driver of the van on La Rambla was Younes Abouyaaqoub, a young man of Moroccan origin who had been living in Catalonia. He fled the scene on foot and remained at large for several days, becoming the subject of a major manhunt across the region before being located and killed by Catalan police.
The Attack on La Rambla
In the afternoon of 17 August 2017, the van mounted the pedestrian area of La Rambla and was driven at speed for several hundred metres, striking dozens of people in one of Barcelona's busiest tourist locations at the height of the summer season. The 13 victims who died on La Rambla came from several countries, reflecting the international crowd typical of the area. More than 100 others were injured, some critically.
After the van came to a stop, Abouyaaqoub abandoned the vehicle and escaped through the surrounding streets and a nearby market on foot. Spanish authorities treated the incident as a terrorist attack from the outset. The vehicle-ramming method mirrored a series of similar attacks carried out in European cities in the preceding years.
The Cambrils Attack and the Wider Plot
In the early hours of 18 August 2017, a second vehicle attack took place in Cambrils, a coastal town in the province of Tarragona, south of Barcelona. A car was driven into pedestrians, and the occupants, armed with knives, then attacked people before being confronted by police. Five attackers were shot dead by officers at the scene. One woman died of her injuries, and several others, including a police officer, were hurt.
Investigators linked the two attacks to a wider cell based in the town of Ripoll in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The plot is believed to have been disrupted by an accidental explosion the night before in a house in Alcanar, where the cell had been stockpiling materials, reportedly including gas canisters intended for a larger attack. The explosion killed members of the group, among them an imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, suspected of having radicalised the younger men.
Younes Abouyaaqoub and the Manhunt
Younes Abouyaaqoub was born in Morocco and had grown up in Ripoll. He was identified as the driver of the La Rambla van and became the focus of an intensive search by the Mossos d'Esquadra, the Catalan regional police, supported by other Spanish security forces.
After fleeing La Rambla, Abouyaaqoub is reported to have killed a man and stolen his car to escape the city, fatally stabbing the driver. On 21 August 2017, four days after the attack, he was spotted near Subirats, in the Catalan countryside, and shot dead by police after reportedly displaying what officers believed to be an explosive belt, which was later found to be fake. His death effectively closed the active phase of the manhunt.
Investigation and Trial
With most of the active attackers killed during or immediately after the events, Spanish authorities focused on the surviving members and associates of the Ripoll cell. The investigation centred on how a group of young men, several with no prior known record of extremism, had been radicalised, and on the role of the imam Es Satty as an alleged ringleader.
A trial of surviving suspects connected to the plot was held at Spain's National Court (Audiencia Nacional). In 2021, the court convicted several defendants on charges related to the attacks and the cell's activities, while the principal perpetrators had already died. The proceedings examined the procurement of materials, the planning of a potentially far larger attack, and the network of relationships within the Ripoll group.
Aftermath and Legacy
The attacks were among the deadliest acts of terrorism in Spain since the 2004 Madrid train bombings. They prompted national mourning, vigils on La Rambla, and expressions of solidarity from across Spain and abroad. A memorial gathering and minute of silence were observed in Barcelona's Plaça de Catalunya in the days that followed.
The events also intensified debate in Spain about radicalisation in small towns, the monitoring of suspected extremists, and coordination between national and Catalan security services, set against the backdrop of heightened political tension in Catalonia at the time. La Rambla itself remained a focal point of remembrance, with the victims commemorated in subsequent anniversaries of the attack.
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Frequently asked questions
What was the The Las Ramblas Attack case?
A van was deliberately driven into pedestrians on Barcelona's La Rambla in 2017, killing 13 and injuring over 130 in an Islamic State-claimed attack.
Who was responsible for The Las Ramblas Attack?
Younes Abouyaaqoub. Younes Abouyaaqoub was a Moroccan-born resident of Ripoll, Catalonia, and a member of a terror cell linked to Islamic State. He drove the van that plowed through crowds on La Rambla. After fleeing on foot, he killed another man to steal a car, then evaded a four-day manhunt before being shot dead by police in Subirats on 21 August 2017.
How many victims were there in the The Las Ramblas Attack case?
At least 13 victims are associated with this case, including named victims such as Bruno Gulotta, Luca Russo, Julian Cadman.
Where and when did the The Las Ramblas Attack case take place?
