A car, a folding oven, a sleeping bag, a tent, a few pairs of slippers, a smile and your mobile phone are always at hand. A little more. On January 8, another crazy adventure began for Santiago Sánchez Cogedor. The man from Madrid everyone is looking for. I’ve done it before, but by bike; In 2019, she traveled to Saudi Arabia (Jeddah) to see the Spanish Super Cup, which eventually won their love club, Real Madrid. He would now reach the highest appointment with football on foot. Starting point, San Sebastián de los Reyes (Madrid), destination: Doha, Qatar. Time: one year. Why? Why? “And why not?” she always answers.
The excuse was the World Cup, but the solidarity fund: help, show what you can do, inspire. After ten months on the road, his family, friends and thousands of followers on Instagram held their breath: nothing has been heard from him since October 2. The Spanish Embassy in Iran is working to find the answers. The National Police issued a statement to the Tehran (Iran) consulate and the alarm is active. “It’s a very complicated situation, we go unannounced,” says Koke, a spokesperson for the family and one of Santi’s best friends. “We know they’re working on it, they’re calling but we’ll have to wait…” A Koke was definitely the last one Santi wrote.
Ukraine at war: “I must stay”
The route started in January. Many media echoed. It covers about 7,000 kilometers possibly impromptu, though some are more popping up. The rhythm that determines Santi; average mileage, affordable, about 14 or 15 per day; regular roll. Two continents, Europe and Asia. About 14 or 15 countries. A gesture every day. Every step is supportive.
“There is always a solidarity aspect of all his journeys. In this case, it was just going. other than walking, but also collecting waste along the way (depending on the environment, he cleaned everywhere he went in exchange for a plate of food or a place to sleep), helped the most disadvantaged, planted trees (which later gave fruit for them to eat), orphanages, shelters…” explains Koke.
Stopped in Poland in March, border with Ukraine. It was longer than expected. I wanted to help. “There’s something in me that tells me I have to stay to keep getting families out of there.”, posted on the social network. “I wonder why. I have no answer. Maybe if something similar happens to my country, friends or family, I would like to cross the border. there was a person with a minivan, sandwich, blanket and smiling”. He stayed.
One whatsapp every day with location
He’s adventurous, but he’s got a head. They affectionately call him crazy, but he’s not. Your rule: say where you’ve been, where you’ve been. “We all talk every day,” says Koke. “There isn’t a single person who doesn’t share their location. We have a group with four of our closest friends, and Santiago shared where he lives every day.” The last message was written to him on October 2. 12:30 Spanish time marked the time.
“Things are hot in Iran”
The route was studied perfectly: Spain, France, Greece… The only doubt was almost over: “I don’t know whether to enter from Iran, Iraq or Israel”. He chose the first.
“He left Iraq, went to Iran. That was when he wrote to me and another friend,” Koke says. “He tells me: ‘Things are hot in Iran’. I always say you get into the deepest problems And be very careful.” Koke’s cell phone rings again: “No, no. It’s all right, just so you know,” says his friend. “This was the last conversation I had with him.”
On Instagram, the last post he has is from the day before. Taken with him by a family, he was still in Iraq. “It leaves the ground and passes to Iran. When it arrives, it has no coverage due to outages with the Iranian government, blocking the internet and others, so on the 2nd, without leaving Iran, it goes back to the Iraqi border, and writes us the message. Covering Iraq He’s come to the border for it,” he says.
Gesture is important. “He’s back, he’s back, to write. With all that said, my theory is that Santiago didn’t get very far. I would even place him in Marivan, a city close to the border.”
I wouldn’t continue without contacting
Santiago enters Iran, the last country before arriving in Qatar from the Iraqi Kurdistan border. “He comes exactly from the town called Penjwen (Iraq),” says Koke, in his latest Instagram post, “the next Marivan (in Iran anyway) and that’s where I don’t think it’s going any further”, Koke says.
“He’s such a smart guy that if he saw that there was no communication, he would have left the country, gone back to the Iraqi border or anywhere.”
Family, friends, calculate the route. This phase can take up to 40 days.. “In the beginning, we had a theory that I can move forward without communication, but… If he could move forward and had no trench, he would have changed course.”
“We wrote messages to people in Iran to see if they had coverage and it’s hard to get in but they’re responding, no Santi”
They excluded it. “We have connections in Iran because he’s been there before. When the bike trip is over, take three weeks off, and another friend is breaking up with Miguel. There they make a few links we wrote specifically to see if there is coverage and if it’s good, messages are hard to reach, but eventually they are answered. Not Santi,” Koke explains. “So he could connect and signal at any point. If not, it’s because he has no other choice.”
“We think it’s on hold”
Koke, “he insists on not moving forward. I am convinced that Incommunicado will not continue. He is a man who uploads 40 stories a day to Instagram.”
In the chaos, it contained fear, absence, calmness.. “We hope that there are many foreigners currently detained or detained by the Iranian government. We hope nothing happened to them and that is why Santiago is among them.”
very prepared
“Funny, noble, good, very kind,” says Koke. left rear time in the army, Parachute Brigade; I’m going. done after boxing trainer is another great passion. Before going to Qatar, he requested permission from the logistics company he worked for. “He sold his car to finance the minimal things he needed. He didn’t think about it. He has a big heart. He is a person who will leave his skin to help those next to him.”
He faced a challenge very prepared, “he made many trips. He went several times to South America, to Algeria … traveled to more than 50 countries.” The purpose was to be an excuse, an excuse. Taken by the Spanish National Team in Doha (Qatar), main reason”Show that you can get far with very little, move forward”Koke recounts, “He always says: All I want is to convey that you can get anywhere with a smile, even if you don’t speak the language. Just to help others.”
They await news from their ‘crazy’ supporter, Santi, with the hope that they are “doing everything to find him”, with the hope placed in the Embassy at the Spanish Consulate in Tehran. They are constantly looking at their cell phone, checking their networks. The greatest wish is for the silence to be broken. Not only the Spanish Football Team but the whole country hopes to welcome him in Qatar.