The question is, why now? Actually, as the article mentions, there has been ongoing terrorist plotting for years. However, the police have been very successful in getting the terrorists before they carry any of their actions. I read the SPanish press and often see accounts of arrests, seizures of material, etc.
I think what has happened now has been the sheer weight of numbers, the achievement of critical mass, since Catalonia has the highest percentage of Muslims in Spain and has bent over backwards to welcome them, mostly as a way of taunting the Spanish government. Catalonia is home to a viciously leftwing separatist movement that now controls most of the major politicial offices in the region, and misses no opportunity to insult and undermine the rest of Spain.
And of course, we have fools like the Pope, calling for more Muslim “refugees” in every country, which he says is even more important than national security.
Put simply, I think the Islamists are feeling very empowered in Europe now, they feel that their numbers are reaching a point where they have a good chance of succeeding, and they’ve learned, by the tolerance of attacks in other countries and the acceptance of this as the “new normal,” that they can get away with attacks, and suffer absolutely no consequences other than perhaps the death of the actual perpetrators. But the Muslim population, the majority of which actually does approve of terrorist activities and wants to take over the host country, continues to grow by leaps and bounds and feels very powerful because it is never called to account for supporting terrorism.
They regard this as just another battle in their war to take over Europe and they are confident that they will be able to do so before long.
Lincoln said, “No foreign invading army could take a drink from the Ohio river without the aid of American traitors.” Islam was kept out of Europe when they sent hordes of troops because they, in effect, triggered Europe’s cultural immune system. But in modern times that immune system has been systematically compromised by cultural traitors. The Left’s infusion of multiculturalism is the opposite of what society has protected itself with since the beginnings of civilization. Multiculturalism is taught in schools and enforced by western institutions, like the courts and government contracts requiring diversity training. To stop this the West must undergo a modern cultural reformation.
Frankly, I don’t see it on the horizon. Thousands and possibly millions will die as the West is slowly subsumed in an alien culture intent on wiping the West out forever. We are heading towards a dystopian future where no one is safe unless they are very rich.