Las Ramblas, Barcelona - Photo by peresanz, courtsey Getty Images
It is not possible to know what counts as being “too soon” when
it comes to the idea of life returning to normal in the aftermath of
any tragedy. Especially after a terror attack.
In a troubled era when the “Breaking News” ticker begins flashing
on your TV, phone or computer screen at any moment, and the information
it brings may well be another shard of despair, it is difficult to say
what constitutes day-to-day existence, or whether we can slip back into
it when it has been ruptured by a bomb blast, a knife rampage, or a
delivery van or car used as a weapon.
On one hand, last week's terrorist attack in Barcelona was shocking - it is
another jagged shard of brutality and barbarism, thrust into the warmth
of a European summer day. On the other, it was depressing in its rank
"familiarity". The initial report of an obscure incident in Barcelona (Catalan [bəɾsəˈɫonə]; Spanish [baɾθeˈlona]). The talk of a vehicle
leaving the thoroughfare and ploughing into pedestrians. I hoped not again! In vain. The brief hope
that this is a random accident rather than planned atrocity. The first
images of bodies on the pavement, and the injured in pain. Twitter
streams of rumour and fear. The confirmation that this is a deliberate
act with an evil purpose. The same footage repeated on the evening
bulletins, this time with the bodies pixelated in the name of decency
and respect.
It is for this reason that any discussion of rearranging travel dates, of cancelling that trip to Barcelona,
of looking for a destination free from all this madness, is pointless!
Where will the next assault occur?
Who knows?
When will it happen?
Probably soon, and with the same grim pattern! This is an entrenched
fight between the west and the liberties it stands for, and a perverted
ideology founded on hatred and ignorance, based on mad, crude ideologies, implemented into confused, frustrated and not good educated young people, to be used as canon fodder by phathologic people in the background. It is not pinned to one
particular location, or a series of possible places. It is everywhere! And it is ongoing. What happened on Las Ramblas in Brcelona that Thursday afternoon was
no longer extraordinary - just the latest episode in a sorrowful saga.
Can we, better the state avoid such attacks?
No! Not even with the latest software for face recognition, as actually tested in Berlin at thesubway station Südkreuz. I stand against such a software critical. But video surveillance was helping discovering the bombing assassin of Compton Street, London, some years ago. It was a white Britain from England. But what about those who are not listed as potential assassin? The next step Minority Report? The civilian generally seen as potential assassin?
If we the civilians are seen as threat, then the state, we are on the wrong track!
There is no way we should sccrifice our freedom!
There is never and was never total security!
Can we, better the state avoid such attacks?
No! Not even with the latest software for face recognition, as actually tested in Berlin at thesubway station Südkreuz. I stand against such a software critical. But video surveillance was helping discovering the bombing assassin of Compton Street, London, some years ago. It was a white Britain from England. But what about those who are not listed as potential assassin? The next step Minority Report? The civilian generally seen as potential assassin?
If we the civilians are seen as threat, then the state, we are on the wrong track!
There is no way we should sccrifice our freedom!
There is never and was never total security!
This is not!, for a moment!, to downplay the fate of the people who have
lost their lives, nor the suffering of the more than 100 people who were
badly hurt on the cobbles of Barcelona, the Catalan capital’s, most famous street.
It is simply to say that for Barcelona in August 2017, you can read
London Bridge in June, or Westminster Bridge in March, this year, or
Breitscheidplatz in Berlin in December 2016, or the Promenade des
Anglais in Nice in July 2016. The bombing in Brussels. The nearly uncountable knife attacks in Israel, or those last in Wuppertal, Germany and Turku, Finnland. And this is just to list the cases where a
car or lorry or an illguided person with a knife has been turned onto passers-by. It is the same level as in Charlottesville, with that Alt-Right terrorist slamming his car into pro-democratic, pro-free living, pro-diversity demonstrators. Or that Oklahoma bomber. It does not include
bloody recent events in Manchester, Paris, Tunisia or Istanbul.
When
does life return to normal?
This unfortunately IS normal.
Las Ramblas, Barcelona Photo by AP Photo - © Manu Fernandez via Newscred
One glance at the identities of the casualties in Barcelona - people
from 34 nations! - should be proof, if it were needed, that this is a
struggle which goes beyond borders. The victims have come from
Argentina, Austria and Australia, from Germany and Greece, from China,
Colombia and Canada, from Pakistan and Peru. This was an assault on us
all!
What should be our response to this? Closing borders?
NO! No way! These attackers are living among us since years. They did not come from abroad!
Spain has, according to its ETA terror history the harshes anti-terror laws in Europe!
There is only one possible
reply.
To keep on travelling!
For if nowhere is safe, then there is no
sanctuary to seek. And if there is no sanctuary - and events in United Kingdom
this year have demonstrated that there are no home comforts here - then
there is little option but to go outside, and carry on regardless!
In
fact, it is essential that we alter our plans as little as possible. To
withdraw into ourselves - to not catch that flight, to stay away from
that beautiful beach, to not go to that intriguing waterfront restaurant - is to give up not only a little of our freedom. It is given up our freedom at all! To shut down our movements is,
as the saying increasingly goes, to let the terrorists win. This must not happen in any case!
A travel advice should be: “Don’t take any unnecessary risks, especially when
under the influence of drink or drugs.” And don´t even try believing in guys crying out: "Last night in Sweden!"
Most visits are trouble-free. The same largely applies to France, or Belgium, or
Germany, or to anywhere else where the clenched fist of terrorism has
been raised in anger. The way to fight back is to stand and face it,
whether that be from a sun-lounger, a terrace café or a rooftop bar.
Las Ramblas, Barcelona - own photo © Earl of Cruise
Even if Barcoloneans demonstrated against too much tourists, Barcelona is still a place to be loved amd admired and to be experienced. So the stressed citizens. Their live is hard in the overpriced city. But deep inside they are proud of their great city, and proud that you had come there.
The lengthy Las Ramblas promenade, that streches 1,2 km, with a pedestrian-only walkway in the center of the avenue and vehicle traffic allowed on both sides, is a tree-lined walkway that starts in a huge plaza and ends near
Barcelona's harbor. It's filled with cafes, restaurants, hotels, shops and stalls selling
everything from souvenirs to flowers, the city's famed opera house and a
baroque palace.
Las Ramblas is one of Barcelona's top tourist draws, a place to stroll
and soak in the city's historic charm while doing some serious
people-watching. The walk along the entire avenue is different to any other global tourism
destinations because it takes visitors past buildings built centuries
ago and ends at the modern harbor neighborhood that was renovated when
Barcelona held the 1992 Olympics, I have walked on Las
Ramblas at least more than 10 times on different occasions, shore visit during a cruise, starting or ending a cruise and extra visits to Barcelona, only to be there, visiting friends and getting the vibrating atmosphere.
Las Ramblas is Barcelona's Champs Elysees or Times Square, It's mostly where tourists go to see and be seen and be entertained.
There's a feeling of excitement and being at the center of it all.
Barcelona the beach, lined with bars and restaurants - own photo © Earl of Cruise
It's kind of a walk that takes you from the old Gothic area to a beach,
which is unique. You don't usually get culture, culture,
culture and then fresh fish restaurants AND a beach. A city where I would love to able to live.
Just off Las Ramblas, the La Boqueria market in the Ciutat Vella
district features dozens of stalls that line its large iron-roofed
building, spilling mountains of colorful fruits and vegetables, rows of
cured ham legs and things shoppers can't find in their supermarkets back
home - like goat heads and pig feet. Or Barrio Gótico (Catalan: Barri Gòtic IPA: [ˈbari ˈɣɔtik] or El Gòtic) is the centre of the old city of Barcelona. It stretches from Las Ramblas to Via Laietana, and from the Mediterranean seafront to the Ronda de Sant Pere and is a part of Ciutat Vella district.
Las Ramblas is a part of the city where visitors can elbow up to a bar next to locals taking a break from their shopping.
There was a feeling of a parade there, a feeling of celebration
every day of the week not only for tourists. Everybody smiles when
they are walking through and it breaks my heart that that its innocence
has been broken.
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