More than many other European countries, Spain — where a rental van killed at least 13 people and injured more than 100 others on Thursday — is inured to the devastation of terrorist attacks.
Authorities swiftly linked the van attack in the autonomous region of Catalonia to terrorism. It closely resembled other so-called low-tech attacks using cars or trucks across Europe in the past year, most of which were blamed on Islamist terrorism.
Islamist terrorism has exploded in Spain in the past two decades as it has around the world: One of Europe's deadliest attacks occurred in Madrid on March 11, 2004, when almost 200 people were killed by terrorists who set off 10 bombs on four commuter trains within four minutes.
A two-year investigation concluded that home-grown Islamist radicals were responsible for the
Last November, Spanish authorities announced that they had broken up a "totally radicalized" ISIS-linked group intent on carrying out another attack in Madrid, and just last March, authorities seized thousands of weapons they said were bound for terrorist groups.
What is now called Spain was ruled by a Muslim caliphate for almost 800 years, through the end of the 15th century. Some modern-day radical Islamist groups invoke restoration of the caliphate among their justifications for violence.