“Mom, my mobile card is broken, I don’t have a phone, we can’t talk.” This was the last message Ignacio Palmero, known as Nacho, sent to his mother before disappearing in Tenerife on the cusp of his 30th birthday in mid-July 2021. A simple unanswered greeting became the alarm bell. Lola, his mother, recalls, “When I saw this, there was no way to reach him, I went straight to the Civil Guard.”
Alarm was raised. A year passed with no clues about his son, no lead to shed light on his whereabouts or what happened to him.
“I live on a roller coaster. I have bad days, terrible days, moments of doubt and fear,” Lola Hijar explains, as she continues the search for her son who simply vanished. Her thoughts race with every memory, every possibility. He might be safe, or lost somewhere—perhaps in a center, or even harmed. She admits there are many scenarios, but one thing remains certain: they will not stop looking.
“My card is broken”
On the morning of July 14, 2021, Nacho opened the Messenger app and messaged his mother, who couldn’t use a phone at that moment. She explains that she had no phone in her name and had arranged a replacement, sending it by courier, but the device never arrived for him. They had lived apart for years, with Nacho in La Palma and Lola in La Laguna, yet they stayed connected through messages and plans to meet. The day after, she tried to congratulate him but the connection failed. She reported to the Civil Guard and visited his home, only to find his belongings there and no sign of him, save for his wallet, ID, license, and insurance card left behind.
That birthday week turned grim. There was no contact by any channel—no messages, no calls, nothing. Lola’s search intensified as she checked every possibility, hoping for a trace. The sense of emptiness grew with each passing day, the feeling that something essential was missing.
“I want to disappear”
With time, Lola reflected on the last days before the disappearance. The family faced strain after a workplace dispute, andNacho’s mood and situation changed dramatically. He’d often avoid staying at home, choosing to travel to different places, while she longed for a sign. Her repeated question, “Where did my son go?” echoed through every attempt to reconstruct the final steps. The fear of what happened intensified, and she admits that there were moments when all she wanted was to vanish from the pain. Yet the drive to find him never faded—Nacho remains the central focus of every thought.
drift
Nacho, described as clever and socially engaged, moved to Tenerife at 21 following the passing of his father. The early years brought independence and a sense of freedom, but also a deep sense of loneliness that began to shape his path. His family noticed a shift as he settled into a new life—music, gaming, and social circles filled the days. Yet something unsettled him, and the distance widened until he disappeared from daily life entirely.
Lola did not stop trying to help. She sought professional support, taking Nacho to therapists and counselors, hoping for a breakthrough. The changes in his demeanor persisted, and the circle of friends drifted away as the situation grew more fragile. A moment that should have felt ordinary turned into a mystery, and the last known actions point to a complex unraveling of events.
The missing pieces arrived with a recall of a chaotic day when Nacho tried to handle a dispute at a job site over an ecological matter. He argued with colleagues, driving a conflict that ended badly. His efforts to rectify the situation did not lead to a resolution. What followed was silence, a quiet that left Lola grasping for a clue in the midst of confusion and fear. The sense of danger and uncertainty became a constant companion in her daily life.
“A man at a bar recalled seeing him walking near his home on a Saturday, but that was all. Lola used SOS Disappeared to scan nearby beaches and engage local networks. They remembered him, they recognized his presence, yet no definitive information emerged for a long stretch. The investigation did not advance beyond that.
Lola filed her report with the Civil Guard, but she notes that jurisdiction issues complicated matters. With the island’s police structure, she felt there were barriers to proper response on her side of the sea. She asked if dogs could assist, and was told they were available on another island, not always in a timely manner. The sense that the effort was uneven weighed heavily as she pressed for action.
What remained? The haunting question of what to look for next. Lola recalls the painful tone of an officer who suggested the possibility that Nacho might not be reachable through ordinary means. The idea of a body was discussed, and the painful reality of a life that could be gone weighed on her. If there was a way to find him alive, she clung to it, even as the doubts grew louder.
One-way tickets
During the early phase of the investigation, an officer hinted that Nacho might not have left the island. Bank records revealed several one-way tickets—one to Barcelona, two to Madrid, and one by sea—though none of these trips had been used at first. The possibility of his boarding a cargo vessel or vanishing on a distant route lingered as a potential explanation, underscoring how quickly ordinary plans can become extraordinary when someone goes missing.
Lola explained that there is no single proof to confirm any theory. The range of possibilities is wide: getting lost on a cargo ship, or quietly drifting into unknown territories overseas where accounts would appear inactive. In the quiet of her home, she seeks answers by every possible method, hoping for a sign that could bring Nacho back or at least clarify his fate. The urge to understand remains unrelenting, a constant undercurrent to daily life.
detoxification
The search extended across the island as Lola spoke with friends, neighbors, and strangers who might have seen Nacho. A bartender mentioned seeing him in the company of a group—information she chased down with police. The idea of a detox center or another temporary refuge was raised, but privacy rules complicated the pursuit. The family faced a daunting array of centers on the island, each with its own constraints, and tried to navigate the maze to locate Nacho or obtain any lead that could help.
People remember Nacho as bright and affectionate. Lola keeps his memory alive through stories of his humor and warmth, his love of waves and reading, and his passion for history. She holds on to the belief that he is still out there, somewhere—waiting to be found, waiting to come home. The pain remains, yet the stubborn hope endures, and she continues to search with every available resource.