FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 94 - ENGLISH

13 NEWS “There is still hope,” emphasised one victim. “Something moves the children.” One participating student put it bluntly: “Until you hear it, you don’t realise it was so real.” LIVING MEMORY TO PREVENT VIOLENCE In his speech, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, highlighted that the programme combines education- al materials with the “civic and exemplary” testimonies of the victims, a combination which, he stated, constitutes “a valuable tool for preventing violent radicalisation and countering the terrorist narrative”. Since 2018, this project has sought to “raise awareness among young people of the ter- rible consequences of terrorism and vio- lence”. The presence of victims in schools, the minister added, conveys something that no textbook can: the human dimension of the harm caused. Grande-Marlaska publicly thanked those who share such harrowing experiences with teenagers—who, in many cases, know of the most significant attacks only through distant references—for their “sacrifice” and “generosity”. He also recalled that Spanish society “has come to realise that those who lose their memory lose their future” and that there is now a collective conviction to guarantee victims “truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition”. 11 MARCH: A DATE THAT CONTINUES TO HAUNT US The event took place on the eve of 11 March, a date that Europe has dedicated to all victims of terrorism since the 2004 attacks inMadrid. Against this backdrop of remembrance, the Ministry of the Interior brought together victims and students to share experiences and lessons learnt. Students and teachers from Las Musas (Madrid) and Antonio Machado (Alcalá de Henares) secondary schools took part, along with two particularly significant testimonies: Alicia Gómez, daughter of the chef at the Rolando café —the site of an attack carried out by ETA in 1974, inwhich 13 people were killed— and Esther Sáez, one of those most seriously injured in the 11-Mattacks. Their speechesmarked themostmovingmo- ment of the event, as they recalled “that the attacks are not just dates on the calendar, but collective wounds in our country”, as high- lighted by the president of the Victims of Ter- rorismFoundation, Juan Francisco Benito. REMEMBERING IS NOT REOPENING WOUNDS Benito emphasised the idea that the response to terrorism“cannever be hatred”, but rather remembrance, justice and education. “Vio- lence can never be a political, religious or identity-based option,” he stated, before call- ing for a constant defence of remembrance: “Remembering is not reopeningwounds, but preventing them fromhappening again”. The event concluded with a musical perfor- mance by the artist Sofía Comas, providing a symbolic and hopeful conclusion to a cer- emony which, as every year, aims to honour the victims and highlight the civic value of remembrance.