Migrants ‘forget problems’ at Madrid Ramadan meal

AFP | Madrid

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At a bustling square in Madrid’s multicultural Lavapies neighbourhood, Baye Serigne, a 23-year-old undocumented immigrant from Senegal, broke his Ramadan fast with a few friends on a recent evening.

“It fills your stomach,” he said as he ate a yassa sandwich, a speciality made with marinated beef and onions after spending more than an hour on public transport to reach the square from the migrant shelter where he lives.

“Here it is a bit like my Dakar, where you can find ways to get by,” said Serigne, a mechanic by training who arrived in the Spanish capital in October and is spending his first Ramadan alone in Spain, far from his family.

During the month of Ramadan, which this year runs through March, observant Muslims do not eat between sunrise and sundown, breaking their fast with a meal known as iftar.

Since 2018 a group of Senegalese have distributed iftar meals in the square during Ramadan to anyone, whether they are Muslim or not.

Fewer than 30 people turned up in the early days, but on some nights this year the group hands out more than 400 sandwiches, said Aliou Badara Wagnan, one of the organisers of the meal distribution.

This year between 50 and 200 people gather in the square every evening for an iftar meal under the watchful eye of the police, he added.

“For those who have just arrived in Spain, it’s very complicated,” the 33-year-old said.

“They are staying in shelters, they don’t have enough to buy what they need or to cook. We are simply trying to make sure that everyone can eat.”

‘Talk and laugh’

For many west African migrants without papers, the gathering is about more than just free food -- it is a chance to exchange survival tips or to talk about the disappointments of their lives as undocumented immigrants.

“I try to come every day. It feels good to have a good time and forget about the problems. We talk and laugh with each other,” said Assana, a 23-yearold former fisherman from Saint-Louis, a coastal city in northern Senegal.

Like Serigne, Assana, who did not want to give his surname, is spending his first Ramadan far from his homeland. He scrapes by on the little more than 1,000 euros ($1,080) a month he earns doing odd jobs.