Spain on High Terror Alert

Spain has raised it's terror alert to it's highest possible level ahead of elections.

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spain put its security forces on maximum alert on Thursday ahead of the general elections on March 9 -- four years after the Madrid train bombings shook the last elections and continue to reverberate through the conscience of society.

The security alert rose from level 2, which had been in effect since the start of the train bombings trial last year, to level 3 -- the maximum alert, the Interior Ministry said.

Maximum alert means police will be backed by the armed forces in patrolling transport hubs, shopping areas, sporting events, landmark buildings, the headquarters of the political parties and their campaign events, and other potential terrorist targets, the ministry said.

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Spain has arrested more than 300 suspected Islamic extremists since the train bombings although not all remain in jail, the ministry said.

The largest recent operation was last January in Barcelona, when police detained 14 men, mainly Pakistanis, on suspicion of preparing al Qaeda-style suicide attacks against the Barcelona metro and other targets in Europe. A judge held 10 of those suspects in jail for further investigation, but four were released.

In another case, 30 suspected Islamic extremists went on trial last year, charged with plotting to send a truck bomb into the courthouse that tries terrorism cases. The trial ended in January, and while the three-judge panel debates a verdict, they also released 10 of the 30 suspects, although five of the 10 remain in jail on other charges.

In switching to maximum alert, Spanish authorities have not spoken publicly of other specific targets, but they point out that al Qaeda statements regularly mention Spain, among other countries, as a target.