Mavi Marcos, the Lanzarote native who since November 2008 was imprisoned in a prison in Quito, Ecuador, is already serving her prison sentence in Soto del Real, in Madrid. Her mother, Toñi Cabrera, will try to have her transferred to Tahíche, in Lanzarote, so that she stays close to her home. This young woman from Conejera was accused of hiding six kilos of cocaine in her suitcase and was arrested at the Quito airport.
Mavi Marcos was transferred last day 3 from Ecuador to Madrid. According to her mother, she was saved "by a hair's breadth" from the wild controllers' strike that forced the closure of the entire airspace of Spain. "She arrived grazing the chaos," says Toñi Cabrera.
Cabrera received the first news of her daughter already in Spain on Saturday morning. "She called me to tell me that she was in Madrid and that everything was fine," she says. Toñi Cabrera will now try to request a permit to see her daughter in Soto del Real. "I plan to travel there, I haven't seen her for a long time and I want to give her a hug," she says excitedly.
This mother has been fighting for more than a year and a half for her daughter to return home or, at least, to be able to serve her prison sentence in a Spanish prison, and not in Ecuador. And this penitentiary center is one of the most dangerous in South America.
"I feel calmer"
"I am proud that she is already in Spain. Now, when I go to sleep, I know that she will also be asleep. And I don't know, I feel calmer. Also, she is better in Madrid, the food is better and she doesn't have to face all the expenses like in Ecuador," she says.
However, although it may seem a lie, communication with her is now more complicated, since Mavi Marcos kept a mobile phone hidden in her cell in Ecuador during all this time. In this way, Toñi Cabrera communicated with her daughter whenever she could.
Now, everything takes a more complicated process and, despite this small inconvenience, Toñi feels that her daughter is more protected and "better cared for" than in the South American country. "She is much better, that's clear," she says.
However, Toñi continues to defend her daughter's innocence. "Mavi can't believe that she has to stay in jail," she says, while acknowledging that she doesn't know how much longer she will have to spend in prison.