"The driver of the stolen butane truck stolen in Barcelona has a history of psychiatric problems. It was not a terrorist act," Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido wrote on his Twitter account.

"During his arrest shots were fired," the spokesman told AFP.

Barcelona's city hall said the small white truck -- which had dozens of orange gas bottles stacked on the back in plain view -- had been stolen.

Mireia Ruiz, a woman who saw the truck from her home nearby, said the driver ignored people screaming at him to stop as he sped down the wrong side of a ring road.

"When people shouted at him, he would laugh and make offensive gestures with his hand," she told AFP.

Police did not say whether there were any injuries.

The truck was stopped in an area close to Barcelona's beaches.

Around 20 police officers and at least six police cars were on site, and several gas bottles were lying on the ground, an AFP correspondent reported.

The trace of at least one gunshot was visible on the windscreen of the truck.