#barcelona attack

New video emerges of Las Ramblas terrorist calmly leaving scene of attack in Barcelona

The terrorist who killed 14 people and injured over 100 in August’s van attack on Barcelona’s Ramblas told a woman he did not know what had happened as he walked calmly away from the carnage, according to newly released video. Younes Abouyaaqoub was making his way slowly through the La Boqueria market when he was caught on camera by a woman who asked him if he knew what had happened. “I don’t…

brussels, march 22, 2016. mom warns me to stay away from big train stations and shopping malls. i dismiss her with an inattentive nod. i rarely go to any of those places, anyway. not to mention the airport. but i still avoid them.

nice, july 14th, 2016. bastille day turns bittersweet too. some lyrics come to my mind. “but if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?”

london, march 22, 2017. a few days ago i was wishing a friend a happy birthday. he’s now telling me he was in the victoria train station a few minutes before the attack. everyone was running and by the moment he knew about it, he already was two tube stops away. still, what if march the 4th, 2017 had been his last birthday?

manchester, may 22, 2017. and music is once again snatched from the hands of thousands. gutter and sensationalist press flood the internet, but something’s going on at a deeper level.

london, june 3, 2017. i remember each attack because they are close to someone’s birthday, or maybe i remember the orly airport and london bridge and the louvre from those trips i went on when i was a child, blurry memories and foggy sketches and whatever concepts i can use as a reference. surreal acts all around europe, this guilty corrupted historical land i call home. and then it hits as close as it can.

barcelona, august 17, 2017. it feels like a joke at first, working my last hours at that café, a few kilometers away from the city. and there’s another empty van here in my town? don’t make me laugh, come on. except it isn’t a joke. and the picture isn’t blurry anymore. glass shards on the floor, hostages in the city centre. is my brother okay? wait, he’s not there, anne, he walked those streets but it was yesterday, not today. father, you didn’t go to the old town today, did you? do you want us to walk you home?, my boss asks at the end of my work shift. friends i hadn’t heard from in years sending messages, no one on the streets, police encircling the van, parked next to the fast food place my friends and i used to go… and it’s chaotic and crystal clear at the same time.

and i’m not afraid anymore.

// clear eyes and empty terror

Spain: Police confirms Barcelona attack suspect gunned down in Subirats

President of Generalitat of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont confirmed that the police killed the main suspect of the Barcelona attack, Younes Abouyaaqoub speaking at the press conference in Barcelona, Monday. Major of Mossos d’Esquadra police department, Josep Lluis Trapero, explained that a woman reported that she had witnessed a man she believed to be the suspect in the town of Subirats. As the…

Barcelona holds memorial rally for terror attacks, as blame game erupts between Spanish and Catalonian governments

It was an outward show of unity in the face of terrorism: Catalan president Carles Puigdemont standing side by side with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, leading thousands in the cry of “No tinc por (I am not afraid)”. But behind the proclamations of solidarity at Saturday’s rally in Barcelona, the political divisions briefly put aside after last week’s twin terror attacks are reemerging…

Spain sought wiretap in 2005 for suspected ringleader behind Barcelona attack over jihadi links

Spanish police obtained an wiretap order in 2005 for the imam who masterminded last week’s twin terror attacks in Spain, as they suspected he was linked to Al Qaeda and other jihadi groups, it emerged on Friday. Abdelbaki Es Satty, a 44-year-old of Moroccan origin, is believed to have directed the attacks which killed 15 people after forming a 12-member terror cell in the Catalan town of Ripoll.…

What’s it like living through a terrorist attack on your city?

This is the first time in a week I’ve felt like I could write. This isn’t going to be about terrorism in general or about my love for Barcelona or how the city’s changed or even what exactly happened. This is more a musing on moments in life when the world kind of spins out from under you.

In a very unfortunate coincidence, this is not the first time I’ve had my heart broken in the days before a…

Cambrils terrorists caught on CCTV laughing and joking in shop hours before their attack

Four members of the terror cell who killed 15 people in Barcelona and a nearby seaside resort last week were captured on CCTV shopping at a service station four times on the day of the attacks, it emerged on Thursday. Video footage shows the terrorists who attacked the beach town of Cambrils making repeated purchases at a nearby service area on the A-7 motorway last Thursday. The footage,…