ISIS flag
ISIS flagReuters

A judge in Spain on Tuesday detained two men and a woman suspected of belonging to a cell that recruited women online to join the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group, AFP reported.

High Court Judge Eloy Velasco charged the three with cooperation with a terrorist organization and glorification of terrorism after questioning them for several hours, and ordered that they be held in jail while the investigation continues.

The interior ministry said Saturday police had arrested the two men of Moroccan origin, aged 32 and 42, as well as a 24-year-old Spanish woman, in the northeastern city of Barcelona, without specifying the date.

The authorities accuse the three of acting as "representatives" of ISIS in Spain and of using the Internet to spread messages and videos to promote its ideals and attract women to its ranks.

They said the three were in contact over the Internet with members of Islamic State in Syria.

Like other European nations, Spain has been grappling with a growing number of jihadist cells on its territory and radicalized Muslims leaving to fight for Islamic State or other Islamist groups in Iraq and Syria.

In September, Spanish police arrested a 19-year-old woman on suspicion of recruiting for ISIS.

The woman, who was not identified, was detained in the northeastern city of Figueres.

Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said Monday that police have arrested 90 suspected Islamic extremists so far this year in Spain and more than 600 since the 2004 train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people and injured nearly 2,000.

Spain raised its terror alert to four on a scale of five on June 26 following deadly attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait.

Spain is just one among a host of European countries dealing with radicalized locals who join jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

Among the countries that have experienced this are France, Germany, SwedenBelgium and Britain.