Alfaz honours Utoya victims

ALFAZ recently paid homage to the 77 victims of the Oslo and Utoya (Norway) massacres on the ninth anniversary of the atrocity.
Local residents, representatives of Alfaz’s Norwegian Community, Alfaz’s mayor and councillors laid red roses at the foot of the immense “Utoya” sculpture by the Basque artist Agustin Ibarrola in Albir’s Johan Gultang Peace Park park.
Alfaz’s mayor Vicente Arques called for a defence of solidarity, diversity, humanity and an “open and diverse” society to counteract terror and injustice.
The choice of the Johan Galtung park was not casual as the Norwegian-born mathematician, sociologist and the founder of conflict-mediation discipline, is an Alfaz resident.
Alfaz, where half of the local population of 22,000 was born outside Spain,  is also home to the largest Norwegian community in Spain.
The town has 2,500 registered Norwegian residents although the true number is probably closer to 8,000.