The tragedy in Spain happened a short time before Luxembourg’s annual funfair, the Schueberfouer, opened to the public on the Glacis car park on 23 August.

The area straddles part of Avenue de la Faïencerie, which was closed to traffic for the duration of the funfair and bordered by large concrete blocks. In total 80 concrete blocks were installed on main roads around the fair, twice the number of 2015. But, as the Ville de Luxembourg told Delano on 24 August, some blocks arrived on the morning of the day the fair was due to open.

“An installation in the afternoon was no longer possible due to the arrival of the first visitors to the Schueberfouer,” a spokeswoman told Delano at the time, adding that the blocks were installed the following day.

In a report published in August, the Luxemburger Wort criticised the “poor planning” for putting visitor safety at risk. Responding to a parliamentary question on the matter, published Monday, interior security minister Etienne Schneider wrote that following the Barcelona attacks the terror threat level to Luxembourg remained at 2.

“All steps were taken by Luxembourg police in collaboration with communes in order to make the Schueberfouer safe for visitors. In fact, their protection was not only limited to the installation of physical barriers at access points but also by an increased police presence,” he wrote.

Concrete block use considered for other events

Schneider did not comment on the delayed installation of the concrete blocks other than to say they were installed the following day. But he did say that the commune and police were evaluating the feasibility of installing fixed bollards in other pedestrianised zones.

The blocks were used during the Kinnékswiss goes Pop concert in Kinnékswiss on 21 June and they have been installed outside of the EU Court of Justice. When authorities closed some roads to traffic last Sunday for a car-free day, however, refuse trailers were installed at the entrances to roads like Avenue de la Liberté, to prevent traffic from using them.

Schneider did not make any reference to tests commissioned by German television programme “Umschau” broadcast on MDR. They were carried out by German test institute Dekra, and measured the effectiveness of these concrete blocks in preventing a truck from plowing through blocks spaced apart. In two crash tests conducted in April this year (and shown in the video below) a truck was driven at 50 km/h into 2.5 tonne concrete barriers placed at different angles. The truck was able to drive on in both instances.