A man covered in blood barricaded himself into a city centre building and allegedly threatened to blow it up with gas cylinders.
Emergency services rushed to the scene on the busy Gran Via in the middle of Madrid[1], Spain[2], this afternoon. It is a bustling area of the city with plenty of tourists. He is understood to have been on the third floor of the building.
Several police[3] vehicles and ambulances were dispatched to the scene, and a negotiator was deployed.
Motive for threats unclear as cordon removed
The police cordon has been removed after the person was detained and taken into custody.
Chaos broke out in the centre of the Spanish capital, with the incident happening in the busy Gran Via, forcing a metro stop to be closed.
A negotiator was on the scene and it is understood the man was safely taken into custody.
Police capture man and take him into custody
Police have arrested a man who barricaded himself into a third-storey apartment in the centre of Madrid and allegedly threatened to blow up the building.
A negotiator was on the scene by Gran Via where the man was seen to have blood on his hands and had canisters of butane gas.
Officers blocked traffic in the area and established a security perimeter before police were able to take the man from the building
Man’s arms are ‘covered in blood’
A man is reportedly refusing to come out from a building between Calle Montera and Gran Vía in central Madrid.
He is understood to be bleeding and is threatening to blow up the building with butane gas, according to local reports.
Emergency services pictured outside a building in Madrid
An image shows emergency services outside a building in central Madrid.
And in a social post, a man said: “I don’t know what is going on, but Gran Via metro stop appears to be closed and police have cordoned off the area.”
No sé qué pasa pero el Metro de Gran Vía parece cerrado, y hay numerosas ambulancias y policía acordonando la zona pic.twitter.com/y6QB0eeyWs[4]
— Jonan Basterra (@Pixel_Jonan) September 15, 2025[5]
Man threatening to blow up a building with gas cylinders in Madrid
Police and emergency services have responded to a building on Madrid’s central Gran Vía where a man has barricaded himself in and is threatening to explode some butane gas cylinders, says Spanish police.
References
- ^ Madrid (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Spain (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ police (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ pic.twitter.com/y6QB0eeyWs (t.co)
- ^ September 15, 2025 (twitter.com)