Silent tears and songs

MASSACRE IN BARCELONA:

HUNDREDS of mourners gather around flowers and candles for victims at a fountain on Las Ramblas where the brutal Barcelona killers struck.

The sombre silence was broken only by gentle guitar music as some sang songs to remember the dead. Others hugged each other to share their grief.

Earlier Spain’s King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy led a minute’s silence at nearby Placa de Catalunya where there was spontaneous applause for the victims.

Yesterday the King and his wife Queen Letizia visited the city’s Hospital del Mar to comfort the injured and shook hands with doctors and nurses who tended the wounded and dying.

Three days of mourning have been announced across Spain. And there were silences at football grounds across the country yesterday as clubs flew flags at half mast and players wore black arm bands.

Britain fell silent too, with one minute tributes at Premier League grounds.

Barcelona will wear special shirts with the words Barcelona on the back and #Totssombarcelona – meaning #Allofusbarcelona – on the front when they play Real Betis in La Liga today.

Star player Lionel Messi, 30, tweeted: “We want to live in a world in peace, without hate and where respect and tolerance are the basis of co-existence.”

And Cristiano Ronaldo, 32, of rivals Real Madrid tweeted: “Support and solidarity to the family and friends of the victims.”