Barcelona crowds chant 'I am not afraid' in defiance of terrorists as they retake Las Ramblas

Tourists and locals come together in show of unity as they march, clapping and shouting, down historic street rocked by violence hours earlier

Lucy Pasha-Robinson
Friday 18 August 2017 13:06 BST
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People of Barcelona march in solidarity against terror attacks

Thousands of people have descended on Barcelona’s Las Ramblas chanting “I am not afraid”, in a show of unity and defiance following yesterday’s terror attacks.

Residents and tourists clapped and shouted “No tinc por” as they walked in sombre defiance down the historic street where attackers ploughed a van into crowds, killing at least 14 people.

Mourners laid flowers and lit candles in memory of the victims before Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Spain's king Felipe held a minute’s silence in the nearby Plaça de Catalunya.

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Spontaneous applause rang out across the square after the silence, in a show of Catalan spirit and community.

The march began shortly after as the crowds made their way down the 1.2 km stretch of Las Ramblas that connects Plaça de Catalunya in the centre with the Christopher Columbus Monument at Port Vell.

"Those that live here can't believe it, because we live here, we walk here, this is our neighbourhood," Sebastiano Palumbo, 47, an Italian architect working in Barcelona, said. "I think the best thing would be to continue, every day, doing what do."

Liz Castro, who has lived in the city for 30 years and who attended the march, said Catalans would never be cowed by fear.

“Tomorrow we will mourn the victims and care for the wounded, and then we will return to our streets and go to work and play and live,” she wrote on Twitter.

“You can't have our city. The day we succumb to fear is the day you win. And that's not going to happen. We will not be afraid.”

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