Those of us who were not born in Barcelona but in many ways consider ourselves to be 'Barceloneses', feel today a special pride of our city. Suddenly, just before 5pm yesterday, an ill-fated day that will always form a part of the city's history, everything changed. As before in Paris, Berlin, London, Stockholm and Nice, a suicidal driver drove into the crowds in a central area of the city. It was on the avenue of La Rambla, one of the global icons of the Catalan capital, and where bustle and fun is on permanent display more than 18 hours a day. It can't be said that it was a great surprise, as nowadays there is not any city free of risk, and the security alert has been high for four or five months. But that is it: a city can never be prepared for a terrorist massacre.
Twenty-five years ago, Barcelona was projected to the world with the Olympic Games, at the same time of the year as now, in full summer. Few knew the city well, and outside of Europe it was an absolute unknown. Barcelona today is the world of business and tourism, of sport and culture, of leisure, of science, of medicine and of architecture. It is admired, it is respected. Who does not want to go to Barcelona? What in 1992 was the presentation to the world of a city in full festive mood, this 2017 has been to fill the world's media with its tragic news. And Barcelona has reached its heights. Its citizens have joined those heights, going en masse to hospitals to give blood, opening bars and restaurants for the people caught up in the chaos and without money, offering accommodation in the city's hotels. Taxis, buses, shops, department stores, all of them became, at some point, meeting places for people lost, abandoned, frightened. And of course thousands of 'Barceloneses' remained in a state of shock!
At the same time, the hospitals filled with staff who interrupted their holidays, as was the same with the Urban Guard, the Catalan police, firefighters, ambulance drivers and other basic services. An hour after the attack, with all hypotheses and many unknown factors on the table, a crisis cabinet was headed by the Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, assisted by several members of his government, together with the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and the representative of the Spanish government, Enric Millo, as well as those responsible for the various emergency and security forces in Catalonia. He confirmed that there had been an attack and killings, and the image of a vigorous, unifying and rapid institutional response has been the best signal of a serious country during a black day. Barcelona will not be able to forget 17th August, but it will be overcome with the energy that the city gives, as stated by president Puigdemont, and the firm conviction that democracy will not bend to terrorism and barbarity.