Por María Izquierdo 
The second edition of the regional conferences on terrorism in Castilla y León, held at the Faculty of Law of the University of Valladolid (UVA), has repeated the «success» of last year and has had a large participation of university students in Law, Journalism, and Criminology.
The opening ceremony was attended by the president of the Association of Victims of Terrorism of Castilla y León (AVTCyL), Sebastián Nogales, who emphasized the importance of addressing terrorism with rigor and the relevance of education as a fundamental tool in this process.
It also had the presence of the dean of the Professional Association of Journalists of Castilla y León, Pedro Lechuga, who highlighted the responsibility that journalists have in covering both current and past terrorism, and the need to give voice to the victims.
Also in attendance were the vice president of the Diputación de Valladolid, Víctor Alonso; the vice dean of the Faculty of Law, María José Moral, and the delegate of the rector for Social Responsibility at the University, Rosalba Inés Fonteriz.
ROUND TABLE
The first round table of these conferences, organized by the Association of Victims of Terrorism of Castilla y León and the Professional Association of Journalists of Castilla y León, focused on the analysis of the documentary shown earlier, which highlights the most prominent moments of the first edition of these conferences, held last year.
Participants included Florencio de Marcos, a magistrate judge of Penitentiary Surveillance, and Paula Benavente, a Journalism student at UVA, moderated by Alejandro Fernández López, a professor of Procedural Law at UVA.
De Marcos focused his intervention on the lack of legal support for victims and criticized the reductions in sentences applied to convicted terrorists.
On the other hand, Paula Benavente regretted the limited presence of this topic in universities due to its sensitive and controversial nature, and highlighted the difficulties faced by students who want to research or work on academic projects related to terrorism.
Before the start of the second round table, the Minister of Education, Rocío Lucas, addressed the attendees and expressed the support of the regional government for all those who have suffered from terrorist violence, emphasizing the importance of including the reality of terrorism in classrooms.
This round table, titled ‘Educational Projects on Terrorism’, was moderated by Carlos Belloso and included Raúl López Romo, responsible for Education and Exhibitions at the Memorial of Victims of Terrorism, Pablo Méndez, coordinator of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Committee on Coexistence and Well-being at the Nuestra Señora del Rosario de los Dominicos School, David Mota, professor of Contemporary History at UVA, and Fidel Raso, a photojournalist.
During the round table, Raúl López Romo reviewed the history of terrorism in Spain, pointing out that it has left nearly 1,500 fatalities, while David Mota warned about the lack of social memory surrounding terrorism, even among adults, and denounced the persistence of the myth of a supposed ‘good ETA’, reminding that most of its victims were after the dictatorship.