The Saharawi children who are part of the "Holidays in Peace" project landed on Lanzarote last Wednesday, July 7. The group, made up of twelve children from the Tindouf refugee camp, disembarked at 2:00 p.m. at the Guacimeta airport, where their respective host families were impatiently waiting for them, ready to offer them a summer in a less adverse climate. From the airport they were transferred to the Spínola Palace, in Teguise, to be entertained with a small reception, before being left in the care of their host families and being able to rest.
Juan Manuel Gutiérrez, president of the Association of Friends of the Saharawi People (APUSA), assures that the little ones "arrived well". "Fourteen children were expected, although twelve arrived," he explained. He attributes this to problems with documentation or the attachment of these children to their parents, which is sometimes an impediment when it comes to embarking on this summer adventure.
Of the total group, made up of seven girls and five boys between the ages of eight and thirteen, four were repeating the experience with the same family and it was precisely these, as explained by Terry Daymon, a member of APUSA, who were most excited about the idea of arriving on the island.
The dozen little ones starred in a long journey to get to Lanzarote. First, they made a stopover in Gran Canaria, where they were greeted with a good breakfast and activities organized by a children's playroom. "It must be said that these children arrived in Gran Canaria at 5 in the morning but before that they had taken a truck to the airport in Algeria, where they were held for a while," Daymon emphasizes.
He also explains that, as a result of Morocco not allowing its airspace to be crossed, the flight had to take a detour and head towards the Mediterranean. "A flight of an hour and a bit becomes another of five or six hours," says Daymon.
After such a long trip, it is natural that the children arrived "exhausted but happy", as described by the members of APUSA. Daymon recalls that the objective of this plan is "to get as many children as possible out, because they are enduring unbearable temperatures of more than 40ºC, in the desert and without water".
As every year, Lanzarote has taken part in this solidarity project that rescues some 10,000 children from the Tindouf refugee camp so that they can spend the two summer months in different parts of the Spanish geography, away from the conflict that has been taking place between Moroccans and Saharawis for more than three decades.
