Vitoria, Spain - Three people were detained early Thursday in the northern Spanish city of Vitoria on charges of links with Islamist extremism, police said. The three were suspected of collecting funds for terrorist activities.
They had also spread radical propaganda among local Muslims, distributing CDs and internet material calling for a holy war, police said.
The suspects were believed to have operated from a flat and from a call centre.
Police spent four hours searching a flat shared by the detainees and a fourth person. The documents seized filled four boxes.
Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba described the arrests as important, because Islamist cells could rapidly pass from "rites and faith" to violent acts.
Neighbours of the detainees said they believed them to be Algerians.
The arrests followed those of 12 Pakistanis and two Indians suspected of links with Islamist extremism in Barcelona in January.
