Topic: Refugees in Barcelona

Before arriving in Spain, I was living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I was studying Jewellery design and also selling some jewelry to friends and friends of friends. I also sold natural products for a brand and I was being paid for my job at a restaurant that had to close. I was also going to drama and dance classes. I lived with my boyfriend and we broke up when I decided to move to Spain.

It has been a long time since I left my home-country, it has been around four and a half years more or less. The life I had before leaving was pretty stable. I had an apartment that I owned, I was living there with my ex-girlfriend and I was studying and working at the same time.

My life before leaving for Spain was quite fine, I was living in Greece for a couple of months and I was just about to start my Master’s in England. I had a job and I was looking for a place to live and I knew Spain from earlier, I loved the lifestyle so that’s why I decided to come here.

My name is Moussa Diop, I’m 46 years old, and I’m from Dakar in Senegal. I left Senegal in 2007. Many people leave Africa because the life there is tough – people go in search for a better life. The neighborhood where I was born was not wealthy and had a lot of vulnerable families and economic hardships. I grew up by doing many artisanal and artistic projects with the homeless kids who lived there, so they could have better tools to gain a living in such a difficult situation.

I am Sunabh. My full name is Sunabh Adray. I am From Nepal and I think I have been living here in Barcelona for three years, since July 2017. My home-country is a very beautiful country. It is obviously a bit poor, but 40% of the population are pretty okay. However, the rest of the population is really poor, so the condition is favourable for the ones who are in a better position and can afford things. They can do anything, they can explore and travel. I have loved travelling since my childhood. So I travelled to many parts of my own country and some parts in India as well. Because India is close and we don’t need a visa or anything like that. If you have a car and some bikes, you can go directly. It’s like crossing a

As the city of Barcelona, I am myself an ethnic cocktail. Born in Argentina 27 years ago, with  Croatian-Italian-Galician roots. Since I’ve started living here, which was not that long ago, I’ve discovered that my Sicilian  surname is actually a Catalonian one. A trace – probably – from what once was the Aragón  Kingdom. In a way, this idea of ‘mixed roots’ fades any possible desire of establishing a ‘true  origin’ for anyone.  

My name is Idriss. I don’t know my age. I come from Burkina Faso. In my family, I was the little brother and I had an older sister. We lost our family when I was 6 years old and we stayed in our village without knowing where to go. It wasn’t very easy because other adults in the village didn’t treat us very well. After that, my sister quickly got married  in Ouagadougou. When she got married, it wasn’t easy for me, I was very young.  

My name is Berkem. I come from Turkey. I came to Barcelona just because I didn’t see any future for me in Turkey. Because of the government and our so-called President being a dictator, I felt pushed to leave the country as soon as possible after I finished my high school education. Despite that, I had very good moments. I used to do a lot of windsurfing while I was growing up since we lived close to Alacati, one of the best windsurfing spots in the world. I was really into extreme sports like windsurfing, snowboarding, and skateboarding. I was competing for windsurfing professionally but ended up leaving the sport after I left Turkey. My favorite memories about my country were always at the sea or in the mountains. The summer vibe is something that I can’t get enough of

My name is Miki. I am one of  3 brothers and sisters. My mom is from an Italian immigrant family and my dad was actually grown up in an orphanage. Their parents were Irish, but they weren’t so good parents, so they left him in an orphanage. And then they both moved to London, and they met up in an Italian youth club, even if my father was Irish and not Italian. It was a nice upbringing. I have a lovely family who I’m very close with. I loved my life before leaving. It was very different, I was working in a hospital just outside London. Obviously working in a hospital during COVID-19 was quite challenging. So it was a very different life. But I lived with a girl that I worked with. We kind of shared and all of

My name is Abdullah. I come from Egypt. Before coming to Barcelona, I lived in Cairo. My life in Cairo was focused on studies. I studied a lot even before going to university. I was in top classes in secondary school, which is a class for the best students. Nevertheless, I preferred to not attend each lesson. I really enjoyed studying by myself. I was also used to running away from school to play football. I was an amateurfootball player for more than 10 years. Even if I studied from 7 am to 7 pm every day, I would go to play football. This is what I love. In Egypt, I graduated in electronics and communication engineering. My first desire was to study medicine or to work on things related to space, like an astronaut or something like that. Most