FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 94 - ENGLISH

8 NEWS JIHADISTS ARRESTED T he year 2025 ended with a new all-time high in the fight against jihadist terrorism in Spain. Over the course of the twelve months, the state security forces carried out 64 operations within the country, resulting in the arrest of 100 suspected jihadists. In addition to these operations, there were nine interna- tional operations, carried out in collabora- tion with police and intelligence services from other countries, which led to the arrest of a further 13 individuals outside our borders. These figures make this year’s overall to- tal the highest since 2004, when, follow- ing the attacks of 11 March, an all-time record of 131 arrests linked to jihadist ter- rorist activities was recorded. For more than two decades, no other year had come anywhere near that figure. The contrast with the immediately preced- ing years helps to illustrate the scale of the increase seen in 2025. In 2024, the securi- ty forces recorded 81 arrests in Spain and eight abroad, representing a 23% increase in the total number of arrests when com- paring the two periods. A year earlier, in 2023, there had been 78 arrests within the country and a further thirteen outside the national territory, against a backdrop of long-running investigations and opera- tions to dismantle local cells. According to figures published by the Ministry of the Interior, a total of 1,375 arrests of suspected jihadists were re- corded between 11 March 2004 and 31 December 2025. Of these, 1,216 took place in Spain, through 512 coordinated police operations aimed at preventing and neutralising activities related to ji- hadist terrorism. At the international lev- el, a further 159 arrests were made in 69 operations, as a result of growing cooper- ation between European and third-coun- try security agencies. In terms of the geographical distribution of operations in 2025, Catalonia once again accounted for the highest number of arrests, with a total of 33 detainees, ten of whom were arrested in the city of Barcelona. This was followed by the Community of Madrid, where 13 arrests were made, six of them in the capital. Both regions have featured prominently in police activity reports for many years. The annual review confirms that the fight against jihadist terrorism remains a strategic priority in Spain and across Europe. The figures for 2025 not only reflect the intensity of the work police and judicial cooperation, but also the consolidation of international coopera- tion mechanisms that have enabled risks to be anticipated, operational structures to be dismantled and prevention meas- ures against new threats to be strength- ened. For the fifth consecutive year, Spain has seen a simultaneous increase in the number of operations and those involved in jihadist activities. PROFILE AND DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE DETAINEE The 2025 Yearbook on Jihadist Terrorism, compiled by the International Observato- ry for Studies on Terrorism (OIET) —an organisation linked to Covite— warns in its latest edition that almost half of those arrested for jihadist activities in Spain during 2025 (48%) were under the age of 25. This figure represents a significant increase on the 40% recorded in 2024 and confirms a sustained downward trend in the average age of involved. Among those arrested over the past year are thirteen minors, eight of whom are girls, from ten different nationalities. This phenomenon, which is also observed across much of the European continent, points to a growing concern: the direct involvement of young people and teen- agers in operational activities, a develop- ment that alters the traditional profile of those detained for jihadist terrorism and necessitates an adaptation of prevention and early detection criteria. As the Yearbook highlights, the data “speaks for itself ” when analysing the generational evolution of the phenome- non. Whilst in 2020 the most common age group among detainees was 32 to 38 years old, by 2025 the predominant group had shifted to 18 to 24 years old, which now accounts for 35% of the total. This shift highlights an accelerated process of youth radicalisation, which is increasingly prevalent in digital environments. As for other socio-demographic factors highlighted by the OIET, the majority profile remains that of a man (92%); 41% of detainees hold Spanish nation- ality; 69% identify ideologically with Islamic State; and 22% have a criminal record for common offences prior to their jihadist activity. 100 in Spain and 13 abroad HISTORIC HIGH IN ARRESTS IN 2025 SINCE THE 11M ATTACKS ` Photo: Ministry of the Interior