In Madrid’s working-class neighborhood of Prosperidad, two Cuban circus artists arrived, with their four massive suitcases, in front of the small Hostel Thirty One on Monday, February 24. Feeling awkward and somewhat wary, Cristian, 19, and Andrés, 29 – who preferred not to share their last names – claimed they had come to “get to know Spain.”
After a few minutes of conversation, the two men, who were traveling on tourist visas, admitted that they were hoping to move to Spain and find work. “The economy in Cuba is in terrible shape – there’s nothing left in the shops, and you have to queue for hours just to get food,” said Cristian. “Spain is a beautiful country; some friends have already come here, so we’ll see if we can find a job,” added Andrés.
With a plastic bag in hand, containing a few personal belongings, Rox Will Sanchez, a 29-year-old Venezuelan man who had arrived 10 days earlier, also entered the hostel. Once an osteopathy student in Caracas, Sanchez had already found work as a delivery man for the app Glovo, and was renting a bunk bed in a 12-person dormitory. He would pay anywhere between €15 and €20 per night, depending on the day. “There are people from Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, El Salvador and Yemen. They are not really tourists,” Sanchez said. “Sleeping here is a temporary solution, until we find something better that’s not too expensive.” Meanwhile, nearly 500 people were sleeping in the corridors of Madrid-Barajas airport’s Terminal 4.
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