Barcelona commemorates the ninth anniversary of the attacks of 17 August 2017

Barcelona today remembered the ninth anniversary of the jihadist attacks of 17 August 2017, which cost the lives of 16 people and injured over one hundred, with a commemorative ceremony which took place in San Jaume square, in front of the City Hall, instead of on the Ramblas, which was affected by works.

As in previous years, the authorities have given prominence, in the front row, to the victims, mainly injured or family members of the deceased. The commemoration ended with a minute's silence, a piece of music and the reading of a poem.

"Tolerance, peace and understanding" are the values ​​evoked by the writer and social activist Fatima Saheb, who conducted the ceremony, which was attended, among others, by the head of the Interior of the Generalitat government, Nuria Parlon, the president of the Catalan Chamber, Josep Rull, the mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Colboni, and the delegate of the Spanish government in Catalonia, Carlos Prieto.

At the same time in the same square, the independence platform 17-A Exigim responsabilitats (17 August, We demand responsibility) demonstrated demanding "the truth" about the attacks, in particular about the alleged relationships between the CNI, the Spanish intelligence, and the imam of Ripoll, Abdelbaki Es Satty, considered the main ideologist of the cell responsible for the massacre. The platform asks to ascertain whether the attacks could have been avoided and any responsibilities of the State.

On August 17, 2017, Younes Abouyaaqoub drove a van at full speed into a crowd on Las Ramblas, killing 13 people.

In Cambrils, a few hours later, a car carrying other members of the jiadist cell hit some passers-by, killing one person and injuring five others. Abouyaaqoub, hunted by the police, was killed four days later by the Mossos d'Esquadra in Subirats, near Barcelona.

The coincidence of the two appointments caused moments of tension at the end of the commemoration, between the Catalan deputy of Vox, Joan Garriga, challenged by the demonstrators, who accused him of being "a provocateur". The Catalan police intervened to separate the parties and escort Garriga out of the square.