Heightened security at Circuit de Catalunya.
The sell-out crowd expected for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix appears to have caused the race organisers to step up security measures at the Circuit de Catalunya, with a more noticeable police presence than in recent years.
Crash.net correspondents at the Barcelona venue report having been searched both entering and exiting the circuit on Thursday, as well as having their equipment checked over by sniffer dogs. Drugs are unlikely to be the target of the searches, leading to the suspicion that the event may have been targeted by more sinister operations.
The sell-out crowd expected for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix appears to have caused the race organisers to step up security measures at the Circuit de Catalunya, with a more noticeable police presence than in recent years.
Crash.net correspondents at the Barcelona venue report having been searched both entering and exiting the circuit on Thursday, as well as having their equipment checked over by sniffer dogs. Drugs are unlikely to be the target of the searches, leading to the suspicion that the event may have been targeted by more sinister operations.
The Basque separatist movement ETA would be the most likely suspects in the event of a terrorist event, although the group has been weakened by hundreds of arrests in recent years. It does have a ruthless reputation, however, having claimed more than 800 lives in the past 35 years.
The suspicions also tie in with the theft of potential bomb-making chemicals from a French warehouse late last month, where police sources report that the thieves spoke Spanish-accented French, suggesting Basque 'nationality'. Sodium chlorate fertilizer has been a staple ingredient in ETA explosives in the past.
Around 10,000 Alonso supporters are expected to make the trip to Barcelona from the driver's home province of Asturias on the north coast of Spain, swelling the crowd to a record 115,000 sell-out boosted by his three-race winning streak.
