Four surviving Barcelona attack suspects appear in court

The four remaining alleged members of a terror cell behind a van attack that killed 13 people and left more than 100 injured in Barcelona last week out arrived in a Madrid court on Tuesday for questioning, a day after the alleged driver was shot dead by police.

The four, the only ones still alive among the 12 men thought to constitute the group, were brought from Barcelona to Madrid and arrived at the High Court, which deals with terrorism cases, in a convoy of police vehicles with sirens wailing.

The eight other members of the alleged cell are dead - some killed in an explosion, others shot by police.

Among those killed in the explosion was a Moroccan imam at the heart of the cell, Abdelbaki Es Satty, Catalan police chief Josep Lluis Trapero confirmed.

The last suspect was killed in a vineyard west of Barcelona on Monday.

A 22-year-old Moroccan, Younes Abouyaaqoub, is thought to have been the driver of the van that rammed into crowds in Barcelona on Thursday.

He was wearing a fake explosives belt and shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Greatest") before he was shot dead by police, said reports.

The surviving suspects were moved, under high security, from Barcelona to Madrid for Tuesday's hearing.

Investigating judge Fernando Andreu is expected to read out the charges against them, likely to span counts of terrorism, murder and possession of arms. The judge will decide what charges to press against the four men. If they agree to testify, they will be questioned on their statements.