Bray men in Barcelona speak of aftermath of terrorist attack
A BRAY MAN working in Barcelona has described the sorrow and shock in the city following the terror events of last week.
‘I was one of the lucky ones to be in the safety of my own home and not out on the streets as it happened,’ said the man, who asked not to be named.
He lives within a minute or two walking distance from Las Ramblas, where a van driver ploughed into pedestrians, killing 13 people last Thursday.
‘My first reaction was one of sorrow. I was shocked and disturbed. Incidents such as these so called “terror attacks” or wars on foreign or home soil, natural disasters… we read about them in the news, on social media, in the papers, and we see them on television. It can’t prepare you for the disgust, fear, terror, horror that you feel when this kind of thing is right in front of you.
‘It was immediately followed by concern and worry. Thoughts went through my head like “oh no, I hope that nobody that I know was hurt or killed” “will it happen again?” “is it safe to go outside?” “I better contact my family and friends to let them know that I’m ok”. I remember many people telling me that it wasn’t safe to go outside, and not to go to work that day. That wasn’t an option as far I’m concerned. We must stand up to these kind of hateful acts and show them that we are not afraid.’
He said that the atmosphere in the immediate aftermath of the attack was fear. ‘People were running to wherever they could to find safety and cover. People were afraid for their lives, yet at the same time completely concerned for the unfortunate ones who were injured or lost their lives that day.’
A regular bar customer of his walked off the metro and out into the street at the very moment of the incident. He described being confused, seeing hundreds of people running around and not knowing what was happening.
‘After realising that there was an immediate danger and hearing what was happening from the crowd, he ran. He told me he felt scared, horrified and disgusted,’ said the Bray man.
‘In the hours following the attack, the city became very quiet, almost to a standstill,’ he said.
‘Barcelona is such a bustling, active city. It was a very different place that evening. I’d never seen it like that before, but that is to be expected. The general atmosphere that evening was one of despondency, hopelessness, fear. It is said that the objective of these kind of attacks, other than the desire to cause pain and suffering and death by a militant, extreme, misguided sociopathic minority, is to strike fear and terror into the minds of the masses. I can also tell you that on that evening, those responsible achieved that goal.’
Morale has lifted since the day and night of the attack.
‘People are angry, defiant and determined not to allow fear and hatred to take over. This may be due to many factors, but I would say that in particular Barcelona’s strong sense of community and a large influx of messages from outside of the city espousing compassion and fellowship, solidarity against these hateful sort of acts have contributed.’
Thousands of people attended a rally the following day to pay their respect. The atmosphere was sombre but hopeful.
‘A contingent of pro-fascist campaigners showed up at the rally, attempting to spread hateful anti-Islam messages, but were shouted down and escorted away by the police,’ said the Bray man. ‘Barcelona is massively multi-cultural, and has a huge, largely integrated Muslim community and I think that people’s positive actions during the rally that day is evidence of this accepting multi-cultural nature.
‘I work with two men from Pakistan, one Indian and one Moroccan all of Islamic faith, along with Catalan, British, Canadian, Argentine, Venezuelan, Irish nationals and even a lady that is raised in Sweden but of Ethiopian descent,’ he said. ‘ The Muslims among us condemned the acts of the attackers. As I mentioned before, people are determined not to allow fear and hatred take over. One of the messages that has almost become a rallying cry against this is “No tinc por!”, which is Catalan for “I’m not afraid”.’
Catalonia, and in particular the city of Barcelona, already has a strong police presence so it’s difficult to tell if security has been increased. ‘I always feel safe in the knowledge that I am never too far from a police officer or station,’ said the Bray man.
‘ There is a slight nervousness in the air every time a siren can be heard. We feel and think things like “has there been another attack?” and “what’s happened now?” It should be noted that there has been a larger appreciation for the police since the attack. At the rally, people stopped to applaud the forces that were present, and thank them for their work. Many of them had worked through the night and into the next day.
‘On the night of the attack, there was an exclusion zone set up in the direct area. Both myself and my colleague, another Bray native, live very close to the exclusion zone,in fact, a matter of metres.
‘On the night, when we walked home from work, after leaving my colleague I had to be escorted through the exclusion zone along with close to 30 others by the police. There were many police officers and bomberos (the local fire service) working around the clock to restore order and ensure the safety.’