Spain attacks: Manhunt for driver of Las Ramblas van Younes Abouyaaquoub extended across Europe

The manhunt for the suspected driver in the Las Ramblas terror attack that took place in Barcelona last week has been extended across Europe with Catalan police urging people to share his image online.

Police are searching for 22-year-old Moroccan national Younes Abouyaaquoub, who has been on the run since the attack on Thursday, and another in the seaside resort of Cambrils on Friday evening, that claimed the lives of at least 15 people and injured more than 100.

After confusion about which member of the now identified 12-member Isis terror cell drove the van in the attack, Catalan authorities confirmed this morning that their working theory is that it was Mr Abouyaaquoub who hijacked the vehicle and drove it to the popular tourist street.

The rest of the cell thought to have planned the attack are either dead or or in custody; with five shot at during the Cambrils attack, four in custody, and two, thought to include the Morrocan imam who radicalised the cell, having perished in an accidental explosion at their bomb factory on hours before the first attack.

Catalan official Joaquim Forn told local radio in the province: "Everything suggests the van driver is Younes Abouyaaqoub".

CCTV images obtained by the Spanish newspaper El Pais appear to show Mr Abouyaaqoub fleeting the scene of Thursday's attack through Barcelona's famous La Boqueria market, just off Las Ramblas and near the site of the attack.

He replaces 17-year-old Moussa Oukabir, who was named in the hours after the attack, as the suspected driver of the van. Mr Oukabir was one of those shot by police at Cambrils when five men tried to stage a knife attack at the resort after being challenged by police at a checkpoint. The attackers killed one woman and injured more before being shot.

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The internationalisation of the manhunt comes after reports in the Belgian press that the imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, had links to the bombers behind the attack on Madrid in 2004 and had lived in a Belgian suburb previously associated with Islamist radicalism.

The mayor of the Belgian municipality of Vilvoorde, once a notorious jihadi hub, confirmed Es Satty lived in the city from January to March 2016 – the month that saw Isis’ attacks launched in nearby Brussels – but the Belgian immigration minister said he was not registered with authorities.

Hans Bonte said Es Satty attempted to work at mosques in the city but was refused by community members who reported his arrival to the police.

Belgian authorities said they contacted their Catalan counterparts for information but were told he was not known to be radicalised, De Redactie reported.