More than a half million Barcelonans, many carrying a single long-stemmed rose, filled the streets this afternoon for a peace rally in the aftermath of the senseless terrorist attack on Las Ramblas. There were people of all kinds–Catalans, tourists, recent immigrants, even a large number of Muslims.
The above short video will give you some flavor of the event.
Some of the signs:
“We are not afraid”
“No, to Islamophobia”
“Your wars, our dead”
“Felipe [the King], if you want peace, don’t traffic in weapons”
“The best answer is peace”
Here are a handful of images with my commentary:
The crowd moving down Passeig de Gràcia on their way to Plaça de Catalunya:
Protest for Peace, #1. Barcelona, 2017
The idea is to have the Muslim world together with us (as just about all already are) in this battle against extremism:
Protest for Peace, #2. Barcelona, 2017
The sign that is being dismantled said, “Spain against terrorism…Thanks, Your Majesty! [the King]” and was accompanied by a number of Spanish national flags being waved about on tall poles. The message sounds good, except that it was really pissing off the local Catalans and the police siphoned them away from the main march and had them disband as they were being bombarded by jeers, whistles, and shouts from the home crowd. Why? Well, these protesters were Madrid loyalists (Spanish flags) and, from the Catalan point-of-view, Madrid is essentially in bed with the terrorists and the root cause of the various terrorist attacks in Spain due to Madrid’s support of the Iraq wars and ongoing international arms sales. Then, of course, there is the Catalan tendency to dislike all that is Madrid and anything related to the Bourbon royal dynasty (see especially the Siege of Barcelona, 1713-1714):
Protest for Peace, #4. Barcelona, 2017
Red Cross and police vehicles were soon decorated with roses in thanks for their service during and immediately after the attacks:
Protest for Peace, #5. Barcelona, 2017
Much of the crowd continued on past the Plaça de Catalunya and visited the various memorials along Las Ramblas:
Protest for Peace, #6. Barcelona, 2017
Muslim marchers rest in front of the Las Ramblas Burger King after the rally. The messages: “Love wins over hate”, “We want peace”, “Barcelona embraces peace”, “We want peace…end terrorism”:
Protest for Peace, #7. Barcelona, 2017
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