A Moroccan living in Cadiz has been remanded in custody by a Spanish judge on charges that he was plotting to poison the water supplies at unspecified tourist areas in Spain.

The man, Chiba Aoulad Abdellatif, was arrested last Wednesday. He is is alleged to have links with Al Quaeda and to be the administrator of a radical jihadist website with a forum, on which he had encouraged others to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden. The method suggested was "poisoning of water supplies for human consumption, particularly in those sources that feed campsites and/or resorts." Another forum user had posted a formula for the production of "botulinum toxin".

According to reports in El Pais newspaper, Spanish police swooped when they detected an increasing note of urgency in his posts suggesting that an attack might be imminant. He had travelled to Girona on 24 July, although there is no confirmation that the Costa Brava might have been an intended target area.