"Cultural and religious diversity is the main element that supports social cohesion and peace, the best antibodies to hatred." With these words the actress Carme Sansa, in charge of running the interfaith event to condemn the terrorist attacks and pay homage to the 15 mortal victims, defended the plurality of Barcelona and Catalonia.
A week after the terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, the Catalan capital has welcomed a "pluralistic, respectful and inclusive" event which valued Catalonia's diversity. "Today more than ever we want our diversity to be our strength. From all convictions and ways of understanding the world that shape our city we say, with our heads held high, that we are not afraid", the actress said.
Thus, the event wanted to be a "reflection of the diverse, opened, democratic and welcoming Barcelona" but also responded to the range of victims of the attacks: 34 different nationalities. The event's attendees were proof of this plurality: Jews, Orthodox, Catholics, Evangelicals, Muslims, Agnostics, Atheists, Buddhists, Taoists, Sikhs, Baha'is, Jehova's witnesses, Mormons and Hindus.
With the diversity of attendees, the event was a fusion between different cultures. The music of the Arab Orchestra of Barcelona opened the ceremony, after which several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were read along with verses from the Bible, the Koran, a Buddhist text and the Torah.
The event closed with the creation of a bouquet made from 15 individual bunches of flowers -representing the 15 who died in the attacks- which was later moved, to applause, to the Rambla. "This coexistence is what the attacks wanted to destroy and our best response is peace and the recognition of our differences as a uniting nexus," said Sansa.
The event was held at 6pm in the Barcelona Maritime Museum and was led by the president of the Catalan government, Carles Puigdemont, the Justice Minister, Rafael Català, and the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau. Ministers Meritxell Borràs, Raül Romeva and Antoni Comín, among others, also attended, as well as the general director of Religious Matters, Enric Vendrell, and other municipal authorities.
The event was closed with a poem by Federico García-Lorca. "La calle más alegre del mundo, la calle donde viven juntas a la vez las cuatro estaciones del año, la única calle de la tierra que yo desearía que no se acabara nunca, rica en sonidos, abundante de brisas, hermosa de encuentros, antigua de sangre: Rambla de Barcelona".
Translation: "The happiest street in the world, the street where the four seasons of the year live together at the same time, the only street on Earth that I wish would never end, rich in sounds, abundant of breezes, beautiful of meetings, ancient of blood: Rambla de Barcelona."