The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) found, amongst the ruins of the house in Alcanar, a video of four of the perpetrators of the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils. One of them, 24-year-old Mohamed Hychami, who was born in Morocco and grew up in Ripoll, looking straight at the camera, threatens the Spanish people with a message in Arabic, "Spaniards, you will suffer", according to Spanish news magazine Interviú.
Some of the images were recorded in the house in Alcanar, but others were taken of the Eiffel Tower on 11th and 12th August, less than a week before the attacks. French authorities were immediately informed, who reacted by installing a wall of glass and acrylic around the tourist attraction, bullet-proof and resistant to charges by lorries and vans.
The judge from Spain's National Audience court involved in the case, Fernando Andreu, has an investigation open into the video, separate from the case over the attacks. The images recorded at Alcanar show the four with acetone peroxide, their home-made explosive, ready. The video shows the making of the explosive and acts as a portrait of the last days of the members of the cell, the newspaper was told by someone who has seen the video.
No specific objectives
In the recording, around 60 minutes long, even though the Eiffel Tower appears, they don't discuss specific targets, like the Sagrada Familia. Investigators are working with the hypothesis that they went to France days before the attacks to receive instructions, receive a religious blessing, to visit another cell ready to attack or because they were planning to attack both countries. The magazine says that the imam, the alleged ringleader, "at no time" appears talking in the video, which could suggest that Abdelbaki es Satty was planning and coordinating new attacks.
The attackers were thinking of different possible targets which would see large gatherings of people on Saturday 19th or Sunday 20th August, but the explosion at Alcanar made them change plans. These included Camp Nou, Barça's stadium where they were playing Betis and Portal de l'Àngel avenue, parallel to the Rambla boulevard they did attack.