Tourists visiting Barcelona's Sagrada Família cathedral this Saturday morning might have wondered what was going on. In fact, that was precisely the intention, as over 200 Catalan CDR activists donned white masks featuring black question marks, to call for answers to the questions that still hang over the 2017 Barcelona and Cambrils terror attacks. In an act that sought to challenge the international community on the second anniversary of the terror attacks, whose 15 mortal victims were mainly tourists, the activists carried the flags of countries affected by the attacks as well as banners in different languages demanding "the truth".
Translation of tweet:
"17th August 2017 attacks: ENOUGH LIES!
Why is there no investigation of the connections between the terrorists and the powers of the state? Why are Spanish political parties preventing commissions of inquiry? Why have the victims been abandoned?
WE DEMAND EXPLANATIONS!
— CDR Catalunya
The protesters gathered silently in front of Gaudí's iconic temple and unfurled a banner that read: "We claim for answers: #17A WeDon'tForget". Half an hour later, they placed the banners and masks on the ground to form a large mural.
On top of the Catalan flag, they left a bouquet of white flowers, while on the Spanish flag, they placed a single black mask bearing the acronym '17-A' (standing for the date of the attacks) and with a red cross painted over its mouth to symbolise the unanswered questions.
In recent weeks, the connection between the imam from the Catalan town of Ripoll, considered to be the brain behind the terror attacks, and the Spanish intelligence service, has reemerged as a political battle. Spanish intelligence sources have admitted that the imam had worked for them as an informer, but the full details of the relationship have never been made public.