Barcelona, Spain (NBCNC) – La Rambla is in the heart of Barcelona, the beating heart of the city.
A pedestrian street that has long been the center of street life here is now also remembered as the scene of a terrorist attack.
Thursday, a van came barreling through the street, killing at least 13 people, injuring about 80 others.
And that turns out to have just been the start of a wave of terrorist attacks, because just a few hours after that attack, there was a second attack that police mainly thwarted south of Barcelona.
In that incident, five people in a van started rushing toward crowds, and rushing toward police.
Their van, however, overturned and police quickly shot them dead, killing four right away. The fifth, dying a short time later.
In their van according to police they had knives, they had an ax, and they were wearing what police described as fake suicide vests.
Spanish authorities are investigating this as two connected incidents they are absolutely calling it terrorism. They say it is jihadi terrorism.
Now the street is perhaps even more crowded than it was at the time of the attack, tens of thousands of people have come here.
Dignitaries have come, members of the royal family have come to express their sympathy, their support, but also to show that the people here and this city refuse to be terrorized.
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