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Saturday 19 auguSt 2017

Memorials grow at site of Barcelona attack Cities seek creative ways to
prevent car and van attacks
By ALBERT STUMM usually bustling street be- white van veer onto the
JOSEPH WILSON gan to return to normal, pedestrian walkway. By ANGELA CHARLTON
Associated Press albeit under the watch of “I heard it hit the people, Associated Press
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — dozens of armed police in saw the people flying,” he PARIS (AP) — From Barcelona to Times Square and
An ever-expanding jumble blue and neon-yellow uni- said. “There was a family beyond, extremists have used vehicles as deadly
of flags, candles, teddy forms. nearby so I told them to get weapons with alarming frequency in recent years,
bears and flowers grew Newsstands were again in. They were tourists and whether to promote jihad, get attention or express
Friday at the base of Bar- selling papers and souve- were trembling with fear. I despair.
celona’s ornate Canaletes nirs, and ice cream shops took them free of charge In response, ugly concrete blocks as well as more
Fountain, where a local lifted their security gates. to their hotel near La Sa- aesthetic deterrents are sprouting up in front of land-
legend says that those who But the street’s flower stalls grada Familia” church, he marks and ordinary public places around the world.
Security experts say such barriers would have mini-
mized the fatal damage wreaked on Spain this week
— yet warn that as long as motor vehicles exist, some
risks will always remain.
While cars and trucks have been used for scattered
violence for generations, the last 13 months have
seen nearly a dozen vehicle-ramming attacks in
Europe and the U.S., as well as car bombings in the
Mideast and beyond. Here are some ways cities and
governments are countering the threat:

THE BOLLARD
Whether a post dug into a sidewalk or an unwieldy
hunk of concrete, bollards are the most common an-
ti-car shield. Impact engineers study the ideal height
and shape of such barriers to resist damage from
various vehicles. Intelligence agencies are increas-
ingly working with manufacturers on optimal bollard
design.
One notably ended a rampage in Times Square in
May by a mentally disturbed driver who ran down
23 people. New York City has installed steel bollards
all around town, and some streets near the stock ex-

People gather at a memorial tribute of flowers, messages and candles to the victims on Barce- change, the 9/11 memorial and police headquarters
lona’s historic Las Ramblas promenade on the Joan Miro mosaic, embedded in the pavement have retractable barriers that prevent vehicles enter-
where the van stopped after killing at least 13 people in Barcelona , Spain, Friday, Aug. 18, 2017. ing at all.
Spanish police on Friday shot and killed five people carrying bomb belts who were connected to The use of bollards is more widespread in recent
the Barcelona van attack as the manhunt intensified for the perpetrators of Europe’s latest ram- years, but not ubiquitous. After a Tunisian claiming
page claimed by the Islamic State group. links to the Islamic State group killed 86 people on
(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
a Nice beachfront last year with his truck, residents
drink from the monument stayed closed, and metal said. questioned why city authorities hadn’t installed barri-
will fall in love with the city gates covered the en- Abdel Azar, manager of ers — even though IS extremists had explicitly encour-
and always return. trance to La Boqueria, the Aromas de Istanbul res- aged followers to “crush” enemies with cars.
The makeshift memo- expansive market that is taurant near the top of
rial sprang up with others one of the city’s big tourist Las Ramblas, said he was ADAPTING FOR SAFETY
along the historic Las Ram- attractions. standing out front when he Cities trying to maintain architectural harmony while
blas promenade, the site Tensions flared briefly Fri- saw the van jump the curb increasing safety are using strategically planted trees
of a van attack that killed day evening when riot po- and start smashing into and metal lampposts — or adding black paint and
13 people, injured 120 oth- lice held back a group of people. carvings to make a state-of-the-art bollard look Vic-
ers and brought Islamic about 20-30 far-right pro- “It came up over there at torian.
extremism to the heart of testers from reaching hun- the entrance and sped up The British soccer club Arsenal’s stadium is seen as a
Catalonia. dreds of counterprotesters to a tremendous speed, model for incorporating “vehicle exclusion” security
Jesus Borrull, a lifelong at the start of the prom- tremendous,” he said. “I into its landscape: It’s surrounded by giant cannons,
resident, gently pushed enade. The far-right group kept hearing ‘boom!’ when concrete benches and huge letters reading ARSENAL
through the crowd to kneel held up a sign saying “Stop it was hitting people.” that are big enough to stop a multi-ton truck from
and pray in front of the Ca- Islamization of Europe,” Pointing to the curb about reaching the crowds.
naletes monument, which while the counterprotesters 20 feet away, he said: “I Train stations are expanding pedestrian zones on their
for two centuries has been held up their middle fingers saw an injured girl right perimeters, to further cushion passengers from vehic-
a symbol of the city and a and shouted “Barcelona, there. Seeing it is shocking. ular threats.
meeting spot for FC Bar- anti-fascist.” I don’t want to overstate Since last year’s truck attack in Nice, the city has
celona soccer fans after a But the atmosphere was my role, but seeing the ter- launched a 30 million-euro ($35.3 million) security ef-
victory. otherwise calm and unusu- ror on people’s faces was fort aimed primarily at “keeping pedestrians and ve-
“The only thing we can do ally quiet as residents and just horrible.” hicles as far apart as possible,” according to munici-
is go forward with peace tourists took stock of the The city and its officials ob- pal security chief Lauriano Azinheirinha.
and goodness,” he said. carnage a day earlier and served a minute of silence Cities can also deploy temporary measures to keep
“Even though it’s difficult, marveled at their own sur- at noon, a rare moment car attacks at bay. In apparent response to the Bar-
we have to do it.” vival. Taxi driver Mariano when the question of Cat- celona violence, a row of police vans lined the front
The promenade reopened Romero, 53, said he was alonian independence — of the Eiffel Tower on Friday, forming a makeshift
to pedestrians early Friday in his cab across the street the subject of a proposed barrier between the nearest street and the already
and vehicle traffic later in from the start of the prom- Oct. 1 referendum — didn’t heavily secured ticket line, which was packed with
the day as life along the enade when he saw the divide its people.q summer tourists from all over the world.q