Spanish King Felipe VI, Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, and other political leaders from Spain's main political parties attend a minute's silence at Placa Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, on Aug. 18, 2017. The number of people killed in Thursday's double terror attacks rose to 14, after a woman died of injuries at the Joan XXIII hospital, the Catalan emergency services confirmed on Friday. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)
BARCELONA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- "Please wait for a minute, I have to mourn the victims," taxi driver Francesco Alvarez said as he pulled his car off the road about a kilometer away from Barcelona's famous Las Ramblas street where a van had ploughed into a crowd on Thursday, killing 14 people and injuring over 100, 18 of them critically.
In the minute of silence, Alvarez listened to the car radio's live broadcast of a ceremony held to honor the victims at the Palace of Catalyuna in the city's center.
Barcelona has quickly returned to normal a day after the attack, and there are no longer signs of the tragedy. There is, however, a greater police presence than usual. But otherwise, tourists take selfies, and small stores resume business to benefit from the booming Mediterranean city and the money to be made in the popular tourist destination.
Even pigeons -- the symbol of peace -- have returned to the square.
Almost 10,000 people, together with the Spanish King and Prime Minister, stood silently at the palace. At the end of a minute's silence, the crowd broke into applause, and began walking slowly along Las Ramblas, chanting "We are not afraid!"
Speaking about the mourning ceremony, Enrique Ulva said, "I feel morally obliged to attend it."
People paid tributes to the victims, laying white and yellow chrysanthemum, candles, and even plush stuffed animals at the base of a street light at the end of Las Ramblas where the van ploughed into the crowd and drove for hundreds of meters.
Silvia Gimenez brought three candles to the site and lit up over 20 candles that were already there.
"People will get more scared, and probably we have to strengthen security measures from now on. But we are a touristic city, we have a lot of tourists every year," she said, adding that terrorist attacks made people stop doing things as they had before.
"In Europe we have been peaceful for many years, but now we cannot escape the situation," Gimenez said. She did not hold the government accountable for falling short of its anti-terrorism efforts, but said all people should be held accountable for ignoring those feeling lost and marginalized who then turn to hate.
In the crowd parading along Las Ramblas was Australian traveller Jack Macdonald. He'd been in a shop buying a football jersey just before the attack.
"I was just two minutes away from the site, and just half an hour before the attack I was there," said Macdonald, adding he felt lucky to have been spared.
He heard the sound of crashing and then people shouting and running, but when he ran closer to find out what had happened he was stopped by police. It wasn't until he returned to the hotel about two hours after the attack that he learned what had happened on tv.
"I felt really bad and sad for the attack so I decided to attend the mourning ceremony," Macdonald said.
A number of women wearing head scarves were at the palace ceremony. One of them was Azzra Patik, who came from Sarajevo some 22 years ago as a refugee to escape the Bosnian War. She held a sign that read: "Not in my name!"
"We are definitely against terrorism, and we want to tell people that those attackers did not represent Islam or Muslim people," she said.
The road around the palace and Las Ramblas reopened after the ceremony to honor the victims, and after the crowd scattered, the palace was again filled with pigeons and travelers.
