Police shot at a man who stole a lorry carrying butane gas and drove it at high speed against traffic, ramming several cars on a city highway.
The man has been arrested and is being questioned, a police spokeswoman said.
The lorry was travelling on a highway near the northeastern Spanish city's famed harbour around 11am Tuesday (10am GMT) after the man, identified in local media as Swedish citizen Joakim Robin Berggren, stole the lorry and tried to escape.
The man was suffering psychiatric problems and not attempting a terror attack, the government said.
"The detained driver of the stolen butane gas truck has a psychiatric history. It was not a case of a terrorist act," the Interior Ministry said in tweet.
About half the butane bottles were flung from the stolen truck as the man sped against the flow of traffic on the Ronda Litoral highway while he was closely pursued by police, the local police said at a press conference.
The man, 32, who was not carrying any form of weapon, hit a number of vehicles before crashing into a wall where he was removed from the cabin at gunpoint, the police said.
One person was reportedly injured by a falling container.
A witness told La Vanguardia he heard the sirens and then saw the truck speed down the road in the wrong direction.
He said two police motorbikes followed and pointed their pistols at the driver, who surrendered.
Spain has kept its national security alert to one step below maximum since July 2015, following violent attacks across Europe.
