Attacks on Spain: Solidarity in the face of terror
In the long term, solidarity, and the values that underpin it, will triumph over the dark vision espoused by violent extremists.
An eyewitness describes what he saw when a van was driven at high speed for several hundred meters onto Barcelona's famous Las Ramblas tourist area. Video: CCTV
The more terrorism there is, the less effective it becomes. But that paradox in itself neither deters the extremists nor reassures the public. Just as people in the Middle East and north Africa have long lived with the threat of terrorism, Europeans must today factor into their daily lives the risk of finding themselves at the scene of indiscriminate, random violence. But while familiarity may diminish the shock value, it naturally does little to mitigate the widespread sense of horror and revulsion at atrocities such as that committed in Spain this week.