A Spanish man who was travelling by foot from Madrid to Doha for the 2022 Fifa World Cup has not been heard from since entering Iran three weeks ago, his family said on Monday.
Santiago Sanchez, 41, an experienced trekker and former paratrooper, documented his journey on Instagram over nine months.
He was last seen in Iraq after hiking through 15 countries, but his social media posts stopped on October 1, the day he entered Iran from the country’s volatile north-western border as violence and protests grip the nation.
Mr Sanchez’s family said his daily WhatsApp updates also stopped that day.
“We are deeply worried, we can’t stop crying, my husband and I,” his mother, Celia Cogedor, told AP.
Iran was the last stop for Mr Sanchez before arriving in Qatar.
He has been reported as missing to Spain’s national police and the Foreign Ministry, but Spanish authorities have no information about him.
They said the Spanish ambassador to Tehran was handling the matter.
AP reported that calls to the Iranian Foreign Ministry seeking comment were not returned on Monday.
Mr Sanchez’s disappearance in Iran happened amid protests across the country, which began on September 16 after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman taken into custody by Iran’s morality police for allegedly not following to the country’s strict Islamic dress code.
Tehran has taken a heavy-handed response to protesters and blamed foreign enemies and Kurdish groups in Iraq for fomenting the unrest, without offering evidence.
The Iranian Intelligence Ministry said authorities had arrested nine foreigners, mostly Europeans, in connection with the protests last month.
Westerners and dual nationals have become pawns in Iran’s internal political struggles and in tensions between Tehran and Western capitals, analysts said, with at least a dozen dual nationals arrested in recent years on spying charges.
Mr Sanchez arrived in Iraqi Kurdistan in late September, after trekking thousands of kilometres hauling a small suitcase in a wheeled cart, packed with little more than a tent, water purification tablets and a gas oven for his 11 months on the road.
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Demonstrators chant slogans during the March of Solidarity for Iran in Washington. AFP -
Another group of demonstrators at the march. AFP -
A protest in support of Iranian women in Barcelona. Reuters -
Iranian citizens and locals joined in the Barcelona protest. Reuters -
People attend a demonstration in solidarity with Mahsa Amini and other Iranian women in Castello Square, Turin. EPA -
A person places a candle during the demonstration in Turin. EPA -
A protester holds a pre-Islamic Revolution Iranian flag during a demonstration in Brussels in support of the Iranians fighting for their freedom. AFP -
A protester wearing a top with a logo that reads 'No to an Islamic state" as she takes part in a rally in support of the Iranian people, in Brussels. AFP -
People wave the Shah-era Iranian flag during a protest in Paris. AFP -
A woman shows her true colours in the protest against the Iranian government, in Paris. AFP -
A woman holds a flag, as people protest against the Iranian regime outside Iran's embassy in central London. Reuters -
Supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) carry placards and wave party flags in Beirut, during a protest against the death of Ms Amini. EPA -
People demonstrate against the Iranian government outside the Houses of Parliament in London following the death of Amini. Reuters -
A mural in Paris depicts women cutting their hair to show support for Iranian protesters. AP -
People take part in a rally against the Iranian government in Vancouver, Canada, on Saturday. AP -
Protesters take to the streets of Tehran. EPA -
Iranian protesters run after clashing with with police. EPA -
A protester shaves their head outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Reuters -
Iranians living in Athens hold a protest in solidarity. AFP -
People take part in a rally in The Hague. AFP -
A woman cuts her hair during a demonstration in Santiago, Chile, by feminist groups and Iranian migrants in support of Iranian women following the death of Amini. AFP -
Members of feminist groups and Iranian migrants during the protests in Santiago. AFP -
Iranian activists shout slogans during a protest against the government in Tehran, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. EPA -
A protester holds a painted portrait of Mahsa Amini in Berlin, Germany. EPA -
A protester shows red paint on her face, resembling blood splatters and bloody handprints next to the national Iranian emblem, during a rally in Berlin. EPA -
Iranian protesters shout slogan during a protest in Istanbul, Turkey. EPA -
A woman holds a sign during a protest against the Iranian government, in front of the country's embassy in Madrid, Spain. The protests were triggered by the death of a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. Reuters -
A woman cuts her hair during the protest in front of the Iranian embassy in Madrid. Reuters -
Israelis show their support for women in Iran as they hold up placards of Amini during a protest in Jerusalem. EPA -
Amini, 22, was arrested in Tehran on September 13, 2022, by the morality police. She fell into a coma while in police custody and was declared dead on September 16. EPA -
People walk by graffiti in support of the protests triggered by Amini's death, in Jerusalem. EPA -
A protest in Nantes, western France, after the death of Amini in Iranian police custody. AFP -
Women gather for a demonstration in Barcelona, Spain. AFP -
Demonstrators in Nantes. Amini's death has sparked a global protest movement. AFP -
Women protest outside the town hall in in Montpellier, southern France. AFP -
A woman at a protest in Catalunya Square, Barcelona. Reuters -
Campaigners and football fans protest at a Champions League match between Porto and Bayer Leverkusen at the Dragao stadium in Portugal. EPA -
People hold placards during a demonstration in solidarity with the Iranian people near the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. EPA -
An Iranian woman living in Turkey with 'Freedom' written on her forehead takes part in a protest near the Iranian consulate in Istanbul. Reuters -
In Barcelona, protesters take part in a demonstration in support of Iranian women. AFP -
A Lebanese activist takes part in a protest in Beirut, triggered by the death of Amini, 22. AP -
A Turkish protester takes off her head scarf while giving a performance in Instanbul during a protest against Iran over Amini's death. Getty -
A woman in Istanbul cuts her hair during a protest against Iran. Getty -
A Lebanese activist holds a poster depicting Amini during a protest in Beirut organised by feminist groups in support of women protesters in Iran. EPA -
Demonstrators in Los Angeles, California, hold the Iranian flag during a protest against the government in Tehran. AFP -
Demonstrators hold placards in Mexico City during a protest against Iran. Reuters -
People demonstrate in Montreal, Canada, during a protest triggered by Amini's death. AFP -
Iranian Americans participate in a rally in central Los Angeles, in solidarity with women in Iran. AP -
Demonstrators march during a protest in Los Angeles, California. AFP -
A woman with the colours of the Iranian flag painted on her face participates in a rally as thousands demonstrate in support of Iranian women in Los Angeles. EPA -
Australians protest over Amini's death in Melbourne. EPA -
Police block protesters from entering Iran's embassy in Oslo, Norway. EPA -
Demonstrators in front of the European headquarters of the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, during a rally against Iran. EPA -
A candlelight vigil for Amini in Los Angeles. AFP -
Afghan women hold placards as they take part in a protest in front of the Iranian embassy in Kabul. AFP -
Protestors take part in a rally outside the Iranian consulate in Istanbul. AFP -
An Iranian woman shows a lock of hair she cut off during a protest outside the Iranian consulate in Istanbul. EPA -
Demonstrators outside the Iranian consulate in Istanbul. Getty -
Iranian Americans rally on Capitol Hill in Washington to show support for protesters in Iran. AFP -
Protesters on Capitol Hill hold a sign condemning the crackdown by Tehran. AFP -
German demonstrators gather in Berlin after the death of Amini in Iranian police custody. AP -
A protester cries during a rally in Berlin. Reuters -
A demonstration in Madrid, Spain. Thousands have gathered in cities across Europe to support protests in Iran. AP -
Demonstrators gather outside the Iranian embassy in Madrid. Reuters -
People take part in a protest in Lausanne, Switzerland. EPA -
Protesters hold signs featuring images of Amini during the protest in the western Swiss city. EPA -
Demonstrators in front of the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. EPA -
An activist outside the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a sign that reads 'Justice for Mahsa Amini'. AFP -
A demonstration against violence in Iran is held in Quito, Ecuador. The Iranian community in Ecuador protested outside the Iranian embassy. EPA -
Protesters at a demonstration outside the Iranian embassy in Quito, Ecuador. EPA
He said he wanted to learn how others lived by living among them before reaching Qatar, the first World Cup host country in the Arab world, in time for Spain’s first match on November 23.
“The idea of the journey is to motivate and inspire other people to show that they can go very far with very little,” he told AP from Sulaymaniyah, a Kurdish city in north-eastern Iraq. “You can go a long way walking.”
The day before he disappeared, Mr Sanchez had breakfast with a guide in Sulaymaniyah.
The guide said he tried to warn him about the dangerous situation in Iran as they parted ways.
“He didn’t look nervous at all. He told me, ‘I sorted out everything, don’t worry,’” he said. They communicated through Google Translate as Mr Sanchez only speaks Spanish.
The guide said Mr Sanchez planned to meet an Iranian family in the Kurdish town of Marivan, a scene of recent anti-government protests. The family had reached out and offered to host him after reading his Instagram posts.
After he crossed the border on October 1, his messages became sparse and cryptic, the guide said. Mr Sanchez told him that things were “very different” in Iran from Sulaymaniyah, the Iraqi metropolis filled with parks and cafes.
“It’s been a long story,” his last message read.
Mr Sanchez’s parents said he told them he would temporarily lose internet access after reaching Iran.
“The country is ‘hot,’ and there are no communications,” Mr Sanchez told his father in his last message on October 1, possibly a reference to the turmoil in Iran’s Kurdish region and the government’s disruption of internet and communications apps used by protesters.
His parents tried not to fret when their messages were not delivered, but their worries grew as the weeks passed.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry said it had registered Mr Sanchez’s border crossing into Iran and was not ruling out any possibilities.
In his last Instagram update, the night before he crossed the Iranian border, he posted images of his emotional farewell to Iraq and told of a Kurdish family’s generosity.
He had planned to camp on a mountain, but the owner of a nearby farm took him in, giving him a bed, shower and a meal.
Pictures on Instagram show him eating bread and chicken soup, smiling and posing with young boys from the village and drinking tea over an open fire.
“Conclusion:” he wrote, “Lose yourself to find yourself.”
