The announcement on June 15, 2005 of the arrest of another 16 suspected Islamist militants by the Spanish government highlights two key points. Firstly, the Spanish government is leading the way in Europe in dealing with the threat posed by Islamic extremists and terrorists. And secondly, the numbers being arrested and detained (over 200 in recent years) illustrates the scale of the problem. For the time being at least, it would appear that the numbers of Muslims being radicalized and joining terrorist groups has not diminished.

The necessity for the continued clamp down is, therefore, self-evident, at least to the Spanish government. It did, after all, suffer the terrible series of attacks on the Madrid railway system in February 2004 that killed 191 people and wounded 1,900. This attack changed the face of Spanish politics. After such an attack, it would be discouraging, to say the least, if the Spanish government did not take this threat seriously. However, that it has continued to focus its attention on this threat, even after the level of threat had appeared to rescind following the elimination of the cell that conducted these attacks, is commendable. The Spanish government was also wise not to see the Madrid bombings as a one-off event, inspired by the previous government?s support of the United States and the war in Iraq . This would have been a serious error of judgment, which the Spaniards have avoided.