Spanish police have killed five people in a counter-terrorist operation following Thursday evening’s van attack on pedestrians in Barcelona’s tourist district of Las Ramblas that killed 13 people and left dozens injured.

Eight hours after the first attack in Barcelona, five people wearing explosive vests drove a car into pedestrians in Cambrils, a coastal town 120km south of Barcelona, before being shot dead by the police. Six civilians and one police officer were injured. The vests were later found to be fake.

Police conducted “several controlled explosions” in Cambrils.