Just a quick reminder: it’s been only hours since this started, there are many conflicting reports coming out in the media in English, Spanish, Catalán, and German, and probably on the others I can’t follow.  So don’t take ANYTHING as the Truth yet. We’ll find out more.

Latest update:

https://twitter.com/g_ashleyhawkins/status/898234012359159809

US Embassy asking American tourists in Barcelona to let their families know they’re safe:

Terror attack in Barcelona:

Una furgoneta ha atropellado a la multitud en la Rambla de Barcelonadesde el inicio del paseo, en la Plaça Catalunya, hasta el mosaico de Joan Miró (Pla de la Boqueria), un recorrido de más de 600 metros, provocando varias muertes y dejando una veintena de personas heridas. Se trata de un atentado terrorista. Según estas informaciones los autores irían armados y estarían a la fuga.

La furgoneta ha entrado en la calzada peatonal en el inicio de la Rambla, en la confluencia con Plaça Catalunya y ha recorrido el paseo central de la Rambla de Canaletes, donde habría ido atropellando a la multitud hasta que se ha estrellado contra el segundo kiosko de la avenida y ha seguido el recorrido. El vehículo ha quedado abandonado a la altura del Pla de la Boqueria.

Translation (my own, so don’t expect much):

A van has hit the crowds on Las Ramblas [Barcelona’s “main street” where crowds stroll every night] driving for more than 600 meters from the Plaça Catalunya to the Joan Miró mosaic in the Pla de la Boqueria, leaving several dead and twenty people injured. It is a terrorist attack. The attackers are armed and fleeing.

The van entered the pedestrian walk at the Plaça Catalunya, travelling through the central promenade of the Rambla de Canaletes, running over the crowds until it smashed into the second kiosk on the street and was abandoned at the top of the of the Pla de la Boqueria.

The vehicle was a rented white van. Police are ordering people to leave the area until it has been completely secured. There are some reports that the terrorists have taken hostages.

More to come….

The attack was outside a kosher restaurant:

(Warning, I’m picking these up fast and not checking for second sources, so don’t take this as Gospel.)

https://twitter.com/realJuniorPardo/status/898225361846239238

Las Ramblas is pretty much the perfect place for this, wide, crowded, and filled with restaurants and clubs on both sides. It’s amazing this hasn’t been tried before.

Police confirm it was a terror attack: