The intelligence and police services of the two countries conducted an anti-terrorist operation that ended in the arrest of the “alleged jihadist,” said the statement.

Contacted by AFP, the ministry refused to say whether the suspect intended to carry out the attack this week, during the world-famous processions that attract hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Spanish police were on Wednesday afternoon searching his home in Seville.

Spain is on level-four terror alert out of a maximum of five.

The country has twice been struck by major jihadist attacks.

In what is still Europe's deadliest in March 2004, bombs exploded on commuter trains in Madrid, killing 191 people in an attack claimed by Al Qaeda-inspired extremists.

Then in August 2017, a double attack left 16 dead in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils.