Spanish police said on Wednesday they arrested a fugitive they dubbed the "master of escapes", wanted in Italy after breaking out of a high-security prison for the fourth time.
The man, whose nationality was not disclosed, was the subject of a European arrest warrant, police said in a statement.
He escaped from an Italian prison in December by sawing through the window bars and climbing down using a rope made from knotted bedsheets.
Police said he had previously escaped from other prisons in Italy, including in Terni in central Italy and Parma in the north.
He had also previously broken out of a prison in Belgium, where he used a human pyramid to get over the perimeter wall.
Spanish police described the case as resembling "a film script", adding that "sometimes reality is stranger than fiction".
The suspect, described as dangerous, was arrested in Tarragona in north-eastern Spain after officers tracked him down.
Authorities said he resisted arrest and several accomplices tried to intervene, with one of them injuring two officers.
Police said he was carrying false identity documents and two €500 notes suspected of being counterfeit.
A judge ordered that he be held in pre-trial detention without bail pending extradition proceedings to Italy.
