The city’s police force confirmed two men tried to storm the Terminal 1 building at 5am local time on Friday.

The men got as far as the food court in the building and were reportedly shouting Islamist slogans before the were quickly arrested.

The Spanish bomb squad were also quickly on the scene to investigate the car for any explosives, but no devices were found.

No weapons or ammunition were discovered in the vehicle either,

The airport also remains open and is operating as normal.

Authorities are not completely ruling out terrorism as a motive.

Interior Minister Miquel Buch said in a press conference: “At the moment, no hypothesis can be ruled out.”

Chief Commissioner Eduard Sallent confirmed that one of the detainees made an “Islamist” proclamation.

He said: “We have an open investigation.

“We do not rule out any assumptions regarding this morning’s incident at El Prat Airport”

But Mr Buch and Mr Sallent said neither of the men were found to have any past convictions or links to well-known terrorist groups.

The arrested men, of Albania nationality, left the car when they had rammed it through the airport’s doors and made their way to a restricted area where they were stopped and detained.

This is a breaking story. More to follow.