BARCELONA became the “city of peace” yesterday as its marked the first anniversary of the terror attacks that killed 16 people.
Marks of commemoration included a flower-laying ceremony by victims’ families on La Rambla, the promenade where a van mowed down scores of pedestrians, killing 14.
A 15th person was stabbed to death there and another in nearby Cambrils, where a separate ceremony will be held today.
Although King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez were in attendance along with Catalan president Quim Torra and other government officials, this was a day for the victims and their families. Many pro-independence supporters stayed away because of Felipe’s attendance, but there was a frosty moment when he was introduced to Laura Masvidal, whose husband, Joaquim Forn, was interior minister at the time of the attacks but who is now in prison awaiting trial for his role in the October independence referendum.
When Torra introduced her, Masvidal told the monarch, who barely acknowledged her as he shook her hand: “I am not the one who should be here.”
There was a heavy police presence as students gave a musical performance in the city’s Placa Catalunya, behind their stage the slogan: “Barcelona, city of peace.”
There was a potential flashpoint on Placa Catalunya when a small group of unionists waving Spanish flags used a loudspeaker to demand an anti-monarchy banner be taken down.
Traffic built up later on the route to Lledoners prison, 40 miles from Barcelona, where Forn and other colleagues are incarcerated.
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