Raleigh-natives Julie and Josh Palmer were one block away from the deadly Barcelona attacks in Las Ramblas Thursday afternoon.
Raleigh-natives Julie and Josh Palmer were one block away from the deadly Barcelona attacks in Las Ramblas Thursday afternoon.
Josh Palmer, who was in Barcelona competing in a professional poker event, and his wife said they were having lunch around 4 p.m. when the attack occurred. They were able to return safely to their hotel.
“All of a sudden we saw a bunch of people running down the road, ” Julie Palmer said. “Stores were closing. People were closing down their garage doors. It was kind of like a lockdown.”
“It kind of calmed down for a couple seconds, and then there would come another wave of people from Las Ramblas.”
Palmer said she noticed armed officials just moments before the attacks.
“They had their guns pointed down when they were walking. They were very intense, ” she said. “Our first thought was to get out and get away from everybody that was running.”
Palmer said people were running away without knowing what was happening.
“There was just a scatter effect because no one knew what had happened. With so many people, there was just confusion, ” she said.
“But we’re choosing not to live in fear. This could have happened in Raleigh, the same as here in Barcelona.”
