In late November and early December 2022, a number of letter bombs were mailed to locations across Spain.
On 24 November 2022, a letter bomb, addressed to the Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez, arrived at Moncloa PalaceinMadrid, Spain. The bomb was destroyed in a controlled explosion, with no injuries reported.[1][2][3]
On 30 November 2022, further letter bombs were mailed. The first was mailed to the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid, exploding when a security officer opened it in the garden of the embassy, leaving a "very small wound" on one finger.[4][5] The arms manufacturer, Instalaza, in Zaragoza, north-east of Madrid, received a similar package hours later.[2][6][7]
On 1 December 2022, before dawn, another letter bomb was intercepted after being detected by a scanner, at the Torrejon Air Base near Madrid. The package was addressed to the European Union Satellite Centre at the base.[2] On the same day, an additional letter bomb was received at the Defence Ministry, and was defused.[1]
Each of the letter bombs were reportedly similar, in brown envelopes addressed to the heads of each institution. The devices consisted of loose gunpowder with an electrical ignition mechanism, resulting in a burning, rather than exploding effect.[1] An official, Rosa Serrano, told radio station SER that the packages sent to both the Ukrainian embassy and Instalaza had the same return address.[2]
In response to the letter bomb attacks, Spanish authorities increased security measures at public and diplomatic buildings.[1][8] The Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba ordered that the security of all Ukrainian embassies be increased, and urged Spain to investigate the attack.[4] Spain's High Court was reported to have opened an investigation for a possible case of terrorism.[9]
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