Several of the terrorists behind last week's attacks in Spain made a quick trip to Paris just days before they killed 15 and injured hundreds more in Barcelona and nearby Cambrils, the French interior minister has confirmed.

The car used by five terrorists to plough into pedestrians in Cambrils, a seaside town south of Barcelona, on Friday (18 August) was caught on a speed camera driving down a motorway south of Paris on 12 August. The terrorists were all shot dead by police after the incident.

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French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb confirmed during a radio interview with BFMTV that the Audi A3 used in Cambrils had been spotted in Essonne, an area around 50km south of the capital, less than a week before the attacks in Spain.

Collomb said that four men were travelling in the vehicle and appeared to have made an "extremely rapid round trip" to Paris, but did not provide any further information.

The day after the attacks, Collomb said that France was tightening its border controls with Spain in case the suspects attempted to flee there.

Catalan police shot dead the prime suspect in the Barcelona terror attack, 22-year-old Yunes Abouyaaqoub, on Monday (21 August), in Subirats, an area 25 miles (40km) west of Barcelona.

Four alleged members of a Spanish terror cell accused of orchestrating and executing the attacks are due to appear in Spain's national court today (22 August). Spanish media have named the suspects as Driss Oukabir, Mohammed Aalla, Salh el Karib and Mohamed Houli Chemal, but police have not yet confirmed their identities.

Three of the men were arrested in the northern Catalan town of Ripoll. The fourth was arrested in Alcanar, south of Barcelona, where police discovered 120 gas canisters and uncovered the cell's bomb-making unit.

Moroccan police have arrested one person and are investigating three others in connection with the attacks, according to Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.