"Walks of Life" by Manuel Montobbio

In the face of the August 17, 2017 attack on Las Ramblas, these "Ramblas of Life" are both a question and an invocation to the angels of Las Ramblas, to its wounded soul seeking to heal, so that we may look inside our own souls and from them draw out all the Ramblas that we are. It is an invocation to be, and at the same time, a journey-a walk through life along the Ramblas and a meditation on it, which the author shares, inviting us each to take our own walk, with the hope that by adding our own drops, we form the sea; by contributing so that those who read these words may draw out, may all of us draw out, the Ramblas that live within us. Thus, together we create the Ramblas of life-making of the Ramblas poetry, of our Ramblas, the Ramblas.

Reflections in the form of poetry, beginning with the verses written by the author to start the book of condolences that was open to the public in Andorra for two days, and from his impressions during his walk along the wounded Ramblas on August 26. From these, these "Ramblas of Life" are illuminated and embodied, within a creative process that the author explains to us alongside the purpose and meaning of the work in the introductory essay, "Keys to Strolling the Ramblas of Life," which you can read below. Writing these Ramblas of Life was, as he tells us, an act of soul-searching, of healing his own wounds, a response to unanswered questions; an affirmation of life and hope. Hope that reading them will also be so: with it, he invites us to walk along, wishing that as you do, you too may discover and bring to light the Ramblas of your own life.