Spanish Man Jailed for Attack on Ruling Party HQ

An unemployed man who drove a car loaded with a home-made bomb into the Madrid headquarters of Spain's ruling Popular Party (PP) has been sentenced to five years in jail, a court said Monday.

In December 2014, Daniel Perez Berlanga rammed a car with an explosive device made up of gas cylinders and fertilizer through the glass front of the building, reaching a staircase inside.

The device did not go off and no one was hurt in the incident, which triggered a major security alert as dozens of police cars shut off the central Madrid street where the party's headquarters are located.

Berlanga, 37, told police at the time that he was a ruined businessman who blamed Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative PP government for his problems.

He later said his target was the entire political class in general.

A Madrid court found Berlanga guilty of making and possessing an explosive device and attempted arson and sentenced him to five years behind bars, in a ruling dated May 10 that was published on Monday.

"The accused wanted the device which was inside the car to explode and cause a fire at the headquarters, accepting that his action threatened the lives of the people who were inside," the court ruled.

The attack caused just over 41,000 euros ($45,500) in damages to the building, the court added.