FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 93 - ENGLISH

73 INTERNATIONAL The Eiffel Tower, for example, was lit up in blue, white and red on the night before the anniversary, joining other public tributes in the city. MESSAGE FROM SPAIN From Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sán- chez remembered the victims with a message emphasising the importance of keeping their memory alive in the face of fanaticism. At the same time, in Madrid, the French ambassador to Spain, Kareen Rispal, emphasised the resilience of a country that, despite its pain, decided to move forward without renouncing its me- mory, reinforcing European solidarity in the face of terrorism. Today, the Bataclan is not just a con- cert hall: it has become a space memo- rial, where candles are lit and names are spoken aloud on each anniversary as an act of affirmation against forgetting. The ceremonies for this tenth anniversary also included the inauguration of new comme- The night of Friday 13 November and the centre of Paris were the day and place chosen by jihadists to strike another blow in Europe. A massive attack in the French capital, which added to the several per- petrated in different capitals around the world. When Parisian restaurants, bars and con- cert halls were packed with people, sever- al suicide bombers set out to carry out a sinister plan. The locations chosen were the Stade de France, where thousands of fans, in- cluding the President of the Republic, François Hollande, were watching a friendly football match between Germa- ny and France; bars and restaurants in the densely populated 10th and 11th ar- rondissements, and the Bataclan concert hall, where around 1,500 rock fans were watching the American band Eagles of Death Metal perform live. The attacks began when one of the sui- cide bombers detonated his explosives at the gates of the Stade de France at 9:20 p.m. Ten minutes later, a second suicide JIHADIST ATTACK IN PARIS PROFILE JUAN ALBERTO GONZÁLEZ GARRIDO Among the fatalities in the Bataclan thea- trewas29-year- old Spaniard Juan Alberto González Gar- rido, was born in Granada, although his family moved toMadrid when he was very young. He attended Nuestra Señora del Recuer- do school. He graduated with a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Higher Technical School of Engineering at the Pontifical University of Comillas (ICAI), where he was already an assistant profes- sor at the age of 21. He completed his final degree project for the Santa María de Ga- roña nuclear power plant in Burgos. After working at Iberdrola, his profes- sional career took him to France in 2000, where he was hired by Electricité de France (EDF), one of the largest compa- nies in the energy sector. His first posting was in Marseille, and he spent the last two years in Paris as EDF's project manager. In the summer, he married Ángela Reina, also an engineer, native of Ciudad Real. bomber caused the second explosion near the sports venue, and a few minutes later, in the 10th arrondissement, jihad- ists armed with automatic rifles sprayed bullets at the terraces of the Le Carrillon and Le Petit Cambodge restaurants. They also fired at the Boulevard Voltaire res- taurant. While these attacks were taking place, three terrorists wearing explosive belts and armed with rifles entered the Bataclan concert hall, where the highest number of fatalities occurred. Two of the terrorists detonated the explosives they were carrying on their torsos, and a third was shot dead by elite units who entered the premises to free the hostages. The eight coordinated attacks left 130 people dead and around 300 wound- ed. Seven terrorists were involved, six of whom lost their lives by committing suicide after killing as many people as possible. One of the terrorists managed to escape. Months before the worst attack in French history, another jihadist attack killed 12 journalists and graphic designers at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. morative spaces, designed with the partici- pation of victims' associations, intended to preserve long-termmemory and provide a permanent place for reflection. * Source: Victims of jihad. Spaniards killed in terrorist attacks