La Rambla terrorist attack memorial inaugurated

Barcelona have inaugurated a memorial to the victims of the terrorist attack which took place on La Rambla in the centre of the city on August 17 2017.

The memorial, which is 12 meters long and engraved into the path of Barcelona’s famous boulevard, reads the message: “May peace cover you, oh city of peace.”

The anti-violence message is written in all of Arabic, English, Catalan, and Spanish, and pays respects to the 14 victims who lost their lives on the day as well as their families.

The memorial is located in the middle of the boulevard, at Pla de l'Os, where the van used in the attack stopped, just beside the mural by artist Joan Miró. 

“Families deserve to know the truth”

However, some family members of the victims have denounced the treatment received from authorities since the attack. The sister of the child from Rubí killed on the day, Mireia Martínez, said the authorities have “much to improve.”

“Attention, recognition, help, accompaniment, and empathy are what we have been missing,” Martínez said. She also criticized the fact that no commission has been set up to investigate the facts of what happened on the day, and that families “deserve to know the truth.”

The inauguration of the memorial was attended by various municipal officials, including mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau, government spokesperson Elsa Artadi, and interior minister Miquel Buch.

Also attending the unveiling of the memorial were members of different branches of emergency services.