By George Anderson
A report on the Ananova Web site sourcing El Mundo newspaper in Spain said, "Terrorists who blew themselves up last weekend as police moved in to arrest them over the March 11 bombings had been plotting an attack on a sprawling shopping centre outside Madrid."
The Parquesur mall includes 193 stores, a multi-cinema and hotel.
According to Spanish investigators, the terrorists had planned to bomb the facility this week. Crowds at the mall would have been heavier than usual, since schools in Spain are closed and many adults take holiday during the week before Easter.
Moderator's Comment: What is your reaction to the revelations coming out of Spain about a planned terrorist attack on a mall? Do security measures at large facilities such as shopping malls need to be changed in light of this information?
It's no surprise that terrorists would choose a soft target such as a retail center to try and carry off an attack. We've seen them before by Islamic extremists in Asia, Palestinians in Israel and Irish republican groups in England and the north of Ireland.
Even the most fatalistic minded among us, however, would still have found the results of such an attack horrifying. Spanish police found two backpacks and a belt packed with dynamite and wired to detonators, according to El Mundo. - George Anderson - Moderator