Paris massacre: Amedy Coulibaly's Madrid visit hints at Spanish terrorist cell connection

Amedy Coulibaly, the Paris gunman who killed a policewoman and four Jewish people at a kosher supermarket in Porte de Vincennes, spent three days in Madrid with his wife Hayat Boumeddiene ahead of the deadly attack, according to French and Spanish media.

Boumeddiene's passage to Madrid was already confirmed by Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who said that the woman flew from Madrid to Istanbul on 2 January and stayed at a hotel there before crossing into Syria.

On the contrary, Coulibaly was believed to have stayed in Paris before the attack. The new revelations shine a light over a possible Spanish connection to a terrorist cell in support of the gunman.

The 32-year-old reportedly travelled to Spain on 31 December by car with another man who has not yet been identified. Then, they joined Boumeddiene in Madrid and remained in the capital until 2 January.

The French minister of interior has refused to confirm the report, which came after Boumeddiene was captured on CCTV at Turkey's Istanbul airport.

The footage seems to show Boumeddiene with a North African called Mehdi Sabri Belhouchine at passport control. She is thought to have crossed the border into Syria into an area controlled by Islamic State (Isis).

UPDATE: A Spanish High Court judge has opened a preliminary investigation into Coulibaly's stay in Madrid, AFP reports. Judge Eloy Velasco will probe the visit by Coulibaly, Boumeddiene and a "third person who may have helped her reach Syria".