Anti-terrorist police in Spain have arrested eight suspected members of a religious jihadist cell who are believed to have recruited other people, allegedly inciting them to fight in Syria and Iraq.

The anti-terrorist operation, led by officers from Spain’s national police service in collaboration with the Catalanian regional police, took place in several cities across the country: Barcelona, Avila, Ciudad Rea and Girona.

Spain has arrested more than 20 suspected militants since September. On Tuesday the country’s interior ministry said it dismantled a militant cell in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta that it claims was ready to attack targets in Europe.

Police arrested two suspected militants as part of a wider security operation that began in January, the ministry said.

“The cell neutralised today, as opposed to others dismantled, doesn’t follow the same pattern of radicalisation, recruitment and sending of activists to organised jihadist organisations in conflict zones