​Statement by President of the Government following coordination meeting at Department of Home Affairs of Regional Government of Catalonia

Barcelona

A very good day to you and thank you very much for attending this press briefing.

As you are all aware, we have just attended the meeting of the coordination committee that forms part of the various security services, as well as other senior officials within our public authorities, both of the Regional Government of Catalonia and of Central Government that work, and this must be our fundamental goal, so that things, following such very serious events as have taken place in recent hours here in Catalonia, can be resolved and tackled in the best manner possible.

I have thanked everyone in my speech, particularly the police forces, for their presence at today's meeting, for their involvement, their hard work and the professionalism with which they have carried out, at such dramatic and difficult times, their work.

There are many goals. Probably the most important, in fact I am sure that this is the most important, is to attend to those people at the different hospitals in Barcelona and in other places in Catalonia who have been injured, and also to their families; many of those people, as you know, who have been killed or who are injured are not Spanish nationals, but foreigners. And, from the point of view of the police, the goal is to clarify the events that have taken place, to arrest the criminals as rapidly as possible and to try to avoid such sad and dramatic events as we have seen taking place again.

I have conveyed my opinion that it is very important for us to be able to work together, for us to be able to exchange all that information that should be exchanged and for us to be able to act as a team.

One of the main problems ravaging the whole of the European Union at this time - in reality, the main problem in Europe as reflected in a study that was presented to the Heads of State and Government at one of the recent European Councils - is the fight against terrorism. This is the major concern in Europe at this time, which is highly justified following the attacks that we have seen around us in such cities as Paris, Nice, London, Berlin, and even in Sweden a short time ago. This is the most important issue, because this is the issue of greatest concern to the people. We are talking about fundamental rights, starting with the first and most important of them which is the right to life.

Hence, what we have declared today is a will, which I consider to be fundamental at this time, to work together and to generate trust because that is what will ensure that we work as effectively as possible which, at the end of the day, is the question at hand.

Aside from that, as you know, the investigation will be headed up by the National High Court, which has jurisdiction on the matter of the fight against terrorism, led by the judge presiding Court number 4.

I have also spoken about international solidarity and the support that we have been offered this morning in the various conversations I have had with Heads of State and Government of our different peer countries. I will continue with these this afternoon. We have offered the same support on other occasions.

Tomorrow, on Saturday, the committee tasked with assessing the alert level to be applied in Spain following the very serious attacks yesterday in Barcelona will meet up in Madrid. Then, on Monday, the Counter-Terrorism Pact will meet, which includes representation from practically all of the Spanish political parties. The aim of this is undoubtedly to send out, once again, a message of unity. What makes us more effective in the fight against terrorism, the first and most basic premise in achieving our goal of defeating terrorism, is for all of the political forces to be united.

I have had the chance to speak with some of the political leaders. They are prepared, some have even asked for this, to hold this meeting of the Pact and I hope that this meeting will serve to convey, once again, to the Spanish public as a whole, that all of the political forces, regardless of their leaning, will move as one in the same direction, with the same intensity and with the same victorious spirit to defeat terrorism.

This country has suffered from terrorist attacks and attacks on the lives of people, on their rights and their liberties for a great many years, which are the most important rights we have as people. We have won that battle and I am absolutely convinced that we will win this fight as well. This, which is a global fight, is not only an attack on us; it is an attack on all those countries that defend democracy, liberty and human rights, those values and principles that we have always been so proud of.

I will now end this brief statement. I wish to thank the President of the Regional Government of Catalonia for this meeting. In all honesty, I believe it has been very positive. I believe that not only coordination between the law enforcement agencies is important, but also coordination between the rest of the public authorities and between politicians, which will make us more effective in the future.

Lastly, I wish to pass on, and I did this during the meeting, my gratitude to all those public servants who have gone through a tremendously difficult situation, as you are all aware, during this time. All of my solidarity, my gratitude, my best wishes and encouragement are with them, and I want them to be aware that they will always be able to count on the full support of the government. Governments are not here to do police work, but to support the police in the performance of their duties, and the most important thing for us is to clarify the facts, detain the criminals and be effective so that events like these are not repeated in the future.

Once again, on behalf of the Government of Spain and of all the Spanish people who feel represented by my words, I will like to pass on our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims of this terrorist attack and our best wishes for a speedy recovery to those injured, all of them - some of them are in a very critical condition, as you know.

Thank you very much for your attention.

(Transcript edited by the State Secretariat of Communication)

Non official translation