Building in Barcelona damaged by explosion

July 12, 2005

The Italian Cultural Institute in Barcelona was damaged today by an explosion. One Spanish policeman was injured and his bomb-sniffing dog killed. Staff at the Institute discovered a suspicious object and called police. Police then arrived with a bomb squad and bomb-sniffing dogs.

The explosion, described as small by Italian Embassy spokesman Filip La Rosa, occurred while police were investigating the object. Franco Giordano, Italian consul in Barcelona, described the home-made bomb as a coffee maker (a macchinetta di caffè) with cables.

The Italian Cultural Institute is located at the passatge Méndez Vigo, in the Eixample district of the Catalan capital. Italian language courses were suspended for the day.