An attack to Barcelona’s essence
A sad stain in the always so receptive and beautiful city.
Barcelona has always been a place of mixed cultures. I remember buying fruits from a “Chino”, groceries from an Indian, souvenirs from a Moroccan and beer from a “Paqui”. These immigrants live peacefully in a city crowded with tourists and locals.
By choice, I’ve lived far from Barcelona’s central neighborhoods, near the university and away from the everyday chaos. Coincidentally, my neighbors were all immigrants and I happened to live for one year observing how it was to be a foreigner in Barcelona.
What I got from this experience is that living in such environment forces us to practice open mindedness. However, it takes time and patience to build a more open perception of immigrants and one moment to destruct it. The exercise of acceptance can be lost in just a blink of an eye — or a terror attack.
My concern is that people start feeling uncomfortable around foreigners or even acting with prejudice, ruining the peaceful ecosystem that makes Barcelona so unique.
Just a reminder of what happened last week and an example of the city’s cultural diversity:
Last night’s attack has made victims from FOURTY THREE different nationalities.
Let us sleep on this information.
