A diplomatic crisis between a Spanish territory in North Africa and Morocco has already caused the immigration of some 9,000 people. One of the photos of the arrival of immigrants went viral. It shows the moment when a Red Cross volunteer embraces a Senegalese man, according to The Guardian.
The episode gained worldwide proportions and with that, a lot of criticism. The woman was identified as Luna Reys, while the immigrant did not have her name revealed. The registration was made by a photographer from the Reuters agency, on the beach of Ceuta, on Tuesday (17).
“He was crying. I held out my hand and he hugged me,” Reys told TVE. In the video, you can see the volunteer offering water to the immigrant and then comforting him. “He didn’t stop hugging me, he clung to me like a shellfish and just cried.”
Reys also said there were reactions that he classified as sexist and racist at the time. “They saw that my boyfriend is black and they did not stop insulting me and saying terrible and racist things”.
After the virtual attacks, the hashtag #GraciasLuna (thanks Luna) reverberated on Twitter, in order to recognize Reys’ humanitarian action.
Spain has already sent half of the immigrants back to the city of Fnideq, in Morocco. The situation caused despair for the Moroccan authorities, since thousands are homeless, staying in public squares and parks.
