Five years later, the relatives of the 16 murdered and several injured pay tribute on La Rambla amid whistles from defenders of “conspiracy theories” against Aragonès, Batet, Colau or Iceta
Five years after the terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, in which 16 people were killed, tears continue to run down La Rambla, ground zero of the jihadist attack and of the institutional tribute to the victims held this Wednesday. The emotional act was attended by relatives of the deceased and injured, who had to listen to the whistles and the demands for “truth and responsibility” made by fifty pro-independence protesters, subscribers to “conspiracy theories”.
Leaning on two crutches, with significant difficulties in walking due to the injuries sustained in one foot, Jumarie Cadman represented the feelings of the relatives and the wounded present in the Llano del bone square, next to the mosaic by the artist Joan Miro, where a emotional floral offering broken only by the claims of a group of protesters against the institutional representatives.
Jumarie is the mother of Julian Alessandro, a 7-year-old boy with dual Australian and British nationality, who died in the mass attack on La Rambla in Barcelona. “He was so energetic and funny, always making us smile. We were so blessed to have had him in our lives and we will remember his smiles and keep the memory of him fondly in our hearts », her parents reminded her then.
The memory of Julian, the aftermath of his mother Jumarie or the presence of some thirty relatives and wounded in the event this Wednesday was clouded by the response of fifty people, who blew their horns and shouted at the representatives present at the act, after they followed the victims into the wreath.
The President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, the President of Congress, Meritxell Batet, the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta, or the Minister of Transport and Mobility, Raquel Sánchez, were present.
The shadow of Villarejo and the greeting of Borràs
Carrying messages asking to know “the truth”, subscribed to the theory of the responsibility of the State and the National Intelligence Center (CNI) in the attack due to the links of the imam and mastermind of the attack Abdelbaki Es Satty, those present charged against the politicians without care about the presence of Jumarie Cadman and the rest of the victims, some of whom arrived from Australia, the United States or Canada.
During the minute of silence, one of those present even shouted: “We are going to give Catalonia a little scare”, in relation to some statements made by the retired commissioner José Manuel Villarejo in an interview on the regional channel TV3 about the role of the imam and his collaboration with the CNI. “Spain is a murderous state, we want the truth, hypocrites,” shouted another of the concentrates, while the group continued to rebuke the attendees by shouting “you, fascists, you are the terrorists”, a famous slogan in the demonstrations of support to ETA.
At the end of the act, the president of Junts, Laura Borràs, who is experiencing her worst political and personal moment before the next oral trial for a case of alleged corruption, has approached these protesters, who have received her shouting ‘president’ and they have sung ‘Els Segadors’, the anthem of Catalonia.
Previously, his party had released a statement in which they criticized “the passivity on the part of some political and police sectors of the Spanish State” during the attack and criticized the fact that “there has never been an attempt to investigate with the transparency and rigor that it requires” the relationship between the CNI and the imam of Ripoll (Girona).
For his part, the adviser of the Unit for the Care and Assessment of People Affected by Terrorism (Uavat), Robert Manrique, in statements to the media, criticized that “an act of homage to the victims must be free of political messages.” Previously, the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has asked in an interview on Catalunya Radio that the attacks not be used to “feed conspiracy theories”, because the Mossos themselves say that “it has no basis”.
compensation
The tribute has been presented by the writer Fàtima Saheb, has lasted about 20 minutes and has featured the Vozes youth symphonic choir. The act has closed with a minute of silence and the aforementioned floral offering while ‘the song of the birds’ was performed live.
The attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils (Tarragona), on August 17 and 18, 2017, caused 16 deaths and more than a hundred wounded of 24 nationalities. The memorial that was installed in the Plain of the bone of La Rambla, where the attack van stopped, consists of a 12-meter plaque embedded in the ground with the inscription ‘May peace cover you, oh city of peace’, reproduced in Spanish, Catalan, English and Arabic.
In the atmosphere of the act, the latest information related to compensation for those injured in the attacks, advanced by this newspaper, was present. According to the Ministry of the Interior, of the 355 victims that appear in the sentence of the National High Court of May 2021 on those events, only 130 have obtained “some type of compensation or help.” In other words, only 36.6% of the people who appear in the ruling have received some kind of compensation, although in principle all of them should have been entitled to it.
Always according to the data of the department headed by Fernando Grande-Marlaska, part of the explanation for such a low percentage of compensated victims is due to the fact that of those 355, only 216 requested compensation from the Ministry of the Interior “within the one year period foreseen in article 28 of Law 29/2011 (the Law of Recognition and Comprehensive Protection of Victims of Terrorism)».
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