Mr Daniel Kiernan, the Irishman detained at Barcelona airport at the weekend, was yesterday remanded in custody pending trial. Mr Kiernan (45) was arrested when he and three companions arrived at the airport on a flight from London carrying £21,000 sterling in allegedly forged bank notes.
In court the judge ordered Mr Kiernan's transfer to the notoriously tough Modelo Prison in central Barcelona until his trial date is set.
The other three people - whose full names have not been made public in Spain: are to be released on provisional liberty. They must not leave Spain and have been ordered to report to the police twice a month until the trial.
A police spokesman confirmed that the four Irish citizens arrived in Spain posing as tourists on one of the busiest weekends of the year - 175,000 passengers used Barcelona's El Prat airport between Friday and Sunday.
The four were detained after they had come through passport and customs control and approached a currency exchange counter to change 1,050 allegedly forged £20 notes into pesetas.
Mr Kiernan was allegedly carrying the bag containing the notes while the others were merely accompanying him. It is believed that the notes had been spotted when the group went through a security check and that they had been trailed until they tried to change them.