Spain identifies Barcelona attacker, search extended to Europe

Police are searching for Younes Abouyaaqoub, a 22-year-old Moroccan-born man, who they believe was the van driver.

Spanish police said Monday they had identified the driver of the van that mowed down pedestrians on the busy Las Ramblas boulevard in Barcelona, killing 13.

Family members of Barcelona attack suspect Younes Abouyaaqoub , at Mrirt in Morocco. (REUTERS)

Police in Catalonia announced the identification on Twitter, without giving his name. But Catalonia’s regional interior minister Joaquim Forn told local radio that everything suggests the van driver is 22-year-old Moroccan-born Younes Abouyaaqoub.

“This person is no longer just being sought in Catalonia but in all European countries, this is an effort by European police,” Forn told Catalan radio.

Authorities could not rule out on Sunday that Abouyaaqoub had not slipped across the border into France.