Moroccan Immigrant’s Journey: From Tangier to Integration in Spain’s Basque Country

After three difficult weeks, Ahmed, 27, who arrived in Andalusia by boat, decided to go to San Sebastián, in the hope of finding a better situation. "When I crossed the border with France, I thought they spoke French, but nothing. Besides Castilian, I encountered Basque," he recounts in fairly fluent Spanish, which he is improving by taking language classes at the school he joined thanks to the ’Lehen Urratsa’ social program of the Basque government.

Upon arrival, Ahmed, without means and knowing no one in the city, wandered the streets and "slept in bus stations," he tells El Diario, in the presence of Ahjab Amari, the social worker who has been accompanying him since he was admitted to one of the Zabalduz houses in Usurbil. "The worst were the first few days. Everything is new, you don’t have papers and you’re very afraid of the police," he recalls.

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Despite all these difficulties, the young Moroccan has not stopped fighting. "He even obtained his baccalaureate," proudly confirms Ahjab, who helps Ahmed on a daily basis to regularize his situation and obtain the necessary documents. "He makes the most of the program," says the social worker, who claims he had "very good grades" during his particularly complicated first year of study.

Today, Ahmed is optimistic about his future. His next challenge is to obtain the equivalence of his years of study validated in Morocco in order to continue his higher education in programming and mechanics and to do internships that can lead to a job.