The long shadow of 17A

This Thursday Six years have passed since the disastrous jihadist attacks on the Ramblas of Barcelona and in Cambrils that killed a total of 18 people, in addition to the six terrorists killed by the Mossos de Esquadra, and injured around 140. These attacks were the hasty outcome of the explosion that took place the day before in a house in Alcanar , in which a group of radicalized youths led by the Ripoll imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, all of them of Moroccan origin, were preparing a series of massive attacks. That date has left not only enormous individual wounds in the victims and in public opinion but have also had a political impact, somewhat retarded and, thanks to the maturity of Catalan society, limited, in the last municipal elections in Ripoll.

Not surprisingly, this city became the focus of all eyes after learning that it was the town of origin of most of the young members of the jihadist cell that perpetrated the attacks, who had become radicalized under the influence of propaganda actions of Daesh and were captured by the Ripoll imam, a small drug dealer who had already served a sentence and whose behavior had already alerted the Belgian police. That almost adolescents raised and socialized in Catalonia had embraced the Islamist ideal to the point of committing heinous attacks and sacrificing their own lives produced a great psychological impact on the whole of Catalan society and particularly in Ripollense, with the consequent risk of social fracture.

Administrations and entities, not always with all the necessary resources, have tried to avert that risk but it has not been possible to prevent the installation in Ripoll a certain climate of mistrust and alertness towards the Muslim community, which in recent years has seen its number increase, but in figures comparable to those of the country as a whole. This state of mind has been captured and in turn conveniently promoted, on many occasions through falsehoods, as is the usual practice of the radical right, by the Aliança Catalana party.

This local independence formation has capitalized on the discomfort caused by the 17A attacks by encouraging Islamophobic discourse, supporting the idea of ​​a clash of civilizations and supporting the thesis of the great replacement, thanks to which it has taken over the Ripoll government and has obtained councilors in Manlleu and Ribera de Ondara. At the moment his strength is limited but the fact that it is given a notable role in the media facilitates the possibility that around its leader, Sílvia Orriols, a candidacy for the Parliament of Catalonia is articulated capable of mobilizing xenophobic and racist sectors, independentistas or not, especially if in the first of In these sectors there is discontent towards the traditional parties. Its eventual success, therefore, will depend on other variables and cannot be attributable to the impact of 17A.

The great challenge is that young people do not emerge from the long shadow of this trauma who, given the rejection they arouse, stop feeling integrated and, as has happened recently in France, at least embrace urban violence as a protest. Avoiding this vicious circle is in our hands.

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