New wave of notices in seven communities for suspicious suitcases: "Citizens are alert"

The warnings about backpacks or suitcases abandoned in public places were repeated this Friday throughout Spain, affecting at least seven autonomous communities and activating the action protocols of the State security forces and bodies. Sources from the Mossos d'Esquadra have explained to 20minutos that "citizens are now more alert after the explosion that occurred in Oviedo" in which an agent from the canine unit of the National Police died and another was injured after a device exploded inside a backpack.

Early in the morning, the Mossos d'Esquadra cordoned off an area in the center of Mataró after finding an abandoned suitcase on the street. As a precaution, a nearby school has been confined. Technicians specializing in explosive device deactivation (Tedax) and the canine unit have traveled to the site, in a preventive manner and without any bomb threat. Finally, the Catalan police have ruled out the presence of any dangerous element and it has turned out to be a false alarm.

The aforementioned sources have explained that it is important to distinguish between abandoned objects and bomb warnings. "In Mataró there has been no bomb warning, a patrol has located the object and we have acted with caution, as we always do," they stated. In Catalonia, according to sources, there has not been an increase in suspicious objects on the streets, "they are simply more in focus and appear in the press." "This happens from time to time, it is something that is not strange, they are objects that you find on the street," they added.

Catalonia has not been the only community affected, in Aragon, after 12:00 p.m., the National Police detected another abandoned suitcase in the vicinity of the PSOE headquarters in Zaragoza, located on Conde de Aranda Street. Units of Canine Guides and Tedax have traveled there. In this case, the object has been detonated although it has once again been a false alarm. At that same time, another suspicious backpack was found near the Civil Guard barracks in Albacete with the same result.

In the city of Murcia, specifically in the Carmen neighborhood, neighbors notified the authorities of the presence of an abandoned suitcase in front of an institute. After moving to the scene, the agents verified that it is "simply an abandoned object, not turning out to be any type of suspicious object." The area has already recovered its usual flow and citizens can circulate normally.

The incidents have reached the capital where the National Police were deployed this Friday at the Madrid Valdecarros metro station due to the presence of a suspicious backpack. By protocol, the Tedax has been activated and the circulation of trains has been cut off in a section of Line 1, although in the end the warning has turned out to be negative.

With respect to transport, the bus station in the Alicante town of Torrevieja had to be evacuated and closed to the public after an alert that warned of the presence of a suitcase abandoned in the facilities. The intervention has also forced the evacuation of businesses, adjacent premises and even the entire team of workers from a building under construction, while the agents kept access to the area restricted, according to local media El Levante. The Tedax ended up detonating the object for safety.

In Andalusia, a suspicious backpack has also appeared next to the entrance to the Reyes Católicos school in Cádiz. The object has activated the security protocol, before the beginning of school hours, and the special anti-explosives team of the National Police has moved in, cordoning off the area. Finally, after examination, they verified that the suitcase contained personal belongings and normality was restored so that the students could enter the school.

The seriousness of false calls warning of explosives

Given this situation, the National Police has launched an information notice to the entire population to warn about the seriousness of making false phone calls alerting of the alleged presence of explosive devices. The Corps has stressed that beyond the social alarm they generate, this type of communications entails serious repercussions both for citizen security and in the judicial field for its authors.

The Armed Institute has warned that every time a notice of these characteristics is received on emergency telephones, the protocols require an extensive security device to be immediately deployed. This response involves mobilizing National Police personnel, fire brigades and ambulance crews, which means removing essential personnel from the streets who are no longer available to attend to real emergencies in which people's lives or integrity may be at stake.