At approximately 1750 EST on April 8th, 2024, ISIS-K outlet Al-Azaim published several images depicting the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, calling for attacks against the Champions League Quarter-Final Games that are set to play from today until April 10th, 2024. Today Real Madrid is playing Manchester City and tomorrow Atletico Madrid is playing Borussia Dortmund.
The Threats
Several pro-ISIS forums reshared the images with threats such as “kill them all” and “prepare your weapon, devise your plan, then lure them in”. Other threats were carried out against Emirates Stadium in London, with calls to attack at least three entrances at that stadium. These threats were growing as of 0300 EST this morning.
However, it seems that Spanish authorities caught wind of the calls for violence and have heightened the security situation in Madrid. According to MADRID ACTUAL and La Vanguardia, the Spanish government has activated all alert systems with increased security in response to these threats. According to Fernando Grand-Marlaska of the Ministry of the Interior:
“in terms of preventing the terrorist threat, the State Security Forces and Corps have activated all their early warning and protection systems, as well as all their response mechanisms ready and arranged.”
MP Francisco Martín from Madrid has also said:
“The two games in back-to-back rounds, of course, represents a huge challenge, which we have already overcome before and with flying colors. Now we are working to make it happen again between today and tomorrow.”
The Response
More than 1300 security guards from the National Police and Civil Guard have reportedly been deployed to areas in and around the stadium to interdict threats. The Anti-Terror Force Protection (ATFP) level for the stadium has been set to a 4 out of 5 indicated extreme security measures.
As of this publication it is not clear if the threats have impacted attendance at the games.
