INSIDE THE HO
THIS is the lair of the suspected van driver in the Barcelona massacre.
Younes Abouyaaqoub lived in the modest flat with his wife and two young children.
With fresh French bread abandoned in a messy kitchen and Moroccan tea left on the side, it appears to have been evacuated in a hurry.
The 22-year-old Moroccan who lived in this modest third-floor flat is now Europe’s most wanted man.
Abouyaaqoub played five-a-side football with pals on a pitch outside his home in the small town of Ripoll, 60 miles north- west of Barcelona just days before Thursday’s atrocity.
Two pictures hold pride of place in Abouyaaqoub’s narrow living quarters containing verses from the Quran.
The first framed picture alongside an ornate clock says: “Mohammed… May Peace Be Upon Him.”
The second picture features “The Throne Verse” which says: “Allah! There is no God but He”.
Work diplomas and vaccination certificate lie on the floor of his bedroom where clothes were piled high on cheap metal-framed bed.
A red suitcase was left out and drawers pulled out – possibly by police.
More religious books were strewn on top of a covered radiator.
Last night the whereabouts of the suspected terrorist’s wife and children were unknown.
Their front door had been forced open by police to reveal traditional lowslung sofas, floral cushions and Quranic verses hanging from the walls.
There were flowers in vases, two simple wooden coffee tables and a flat screen TV.
Shelves included a running trophy on the side and a book entitled The Life of the Prophet Mohammed.
Abouyaaqoub, originally from Mrirt in Morocco, is thought to be the only member of the cell still on the run.
Detectives believe he may have fled the scene of the atrocity on the Barcelona Metro before stabbing a man to death, stealing his car and smashing through a police checkpoint.
Neighbours spoke of their shock. Mohammed Bernardi, who has known Younes since he moved into the same block of flats in 2006, said: “We can’t believe it it. They’re just normal kids. “Younes was playing fo football in the square just t three days before this. That’s what they did.
“They were always having a kick about.”
Neighbours claim that th the Fiat van used to kill an and maim in the Ramblas ha had been parked in the stree street outside the night bf before th the attack.tt
One said: “It was the same van that was used in the Ramblas. I recognised the van from the reports on the TV.
“I saw them pulling stickers off the side of the van.”
The original van driver suspect, Moussa Oukabir, 17, who is thought to have rented the vehicle, was among five terrorists shot dead in the second attack in Cambrils.
Detectives have also not ruled out the possibility that Abouyaaqoub was one of the two people killed in the explosion at the bomb factory on Wednesday.