Six months since terrorism struck Catalonia

August 17, 2017. It is 4.50pm. A van drives down one of the main streets in the center of Barcelona, turns sharply along one of the roads alongside La Rambla, speeds up and crashes into crowds. In the midst of the tourist season, the van drives 600 meters from one side to the other, along the pedestrianised promenade of La Rambla. Some 14 people die and more than a hundred are injured in the attack. Amid the chaos, the driver steps out of the van and escapes on foot. About an hour later, he kills a young man and steals his car to flee the city.

The day before, a house blew up in Alcanar, in southern Catalonia. The Catalan police quickly link both events, and confirm that what happened in Barcelona was a terrorist attack. In the evening, the first arrests are made in Ripoll, in northern Catalonia. In the early hours of the next day, a car runs six people over in Cambrils, a coastal town 120 km from the Catalan capital. One victim will end up dying.