The six men were watching the recorded footage sent from the phone of their leader as he filmed the impending attack in Santiago de Compostela. They watched as an unknown passer-by intervened and tried to stop their jihadi companion from fulfilling his intended destiny.

The footage ran out without it being clear what had happened, but there was bad news from the television. The news presenter said three people were dead, an American and two North Africans, which meant their leader and their marksman were now in heaven, but they had taken one of the opposition down.

“What do we do now?” asked the youngest. “We must get our revenge on whoever that is, who killed our brothers.”

The most senior of the jihadis, who had assumed leadership of the group, nodded. 

“You should take a picture of the man who did this and ask around the hotels in Santiago, so we can find him. You should leave now and take the train, it’s only twenty-five minutes. Find him before the police do. I will send an image to all our friends in Galicia, Asturias, and Portugal. They will contact me if they see this person and I will coordinate the hunt from here for now. Go! And don’t come back until we have hunted this infidel to his death.”