DOHA
“Walking from Madrid to Qatar, picking up waste, planting trees for a better world, help me help,” reads the short bio on the Instagram account of Santiago Sánchez Cogedor, which has some 42.8k followers.
‘Help me help’ on his popular social media account has a link to the Paypal account of the Spanish environmentalist, a strong fan of Real Madrid, who is aiming to make his way on foot towards Qatar, where the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held between November and December and who has since gone incommunicado for the last three weeks after stepping on Iranian soil.
For the moment Sanchez's family, friends and well-wishers are looking not for monetary assistance but to help trace his whereabouts in Iran, a country hit by mass protests in Tehran as a reaction to the death of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini, taken into custody by Iran’s morality police for allegedly not adhering to the country’s strict Islamic dress code.
The experienced trekker, former paratrooper and soccer fan started his gruelling and challenging journey from Spain in January and has since travelled to France, Monaco, Italy, San Marino, Albania Greece, Turkey, Iraq and was in Iran, from where he had communicated with his family and relatives before losing contact with the outside world.
Santiago was hoping to go to Tehran, the Iranian capital, and then head to Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran where he would hop on a boat and reach Qatar in time for the World Cup.
“I am near the border of Iraq, I will cross Iraq and part of Iran, then I will arrive in Qatar, this is the first World Cup I (will be) attending. I will arrive in Qatar in time for the start of the World Cup,” the 41-year-old had told The Goan while he was in Iraq.
Explaining his daily walking schedule, he said he does not follow a fixed routine of covering certain kilometres in a day’s time.
“The kilometres I travel daily can vary by an average of 16 km per day, although there are days when I walk 30 km and another 7 km,” Santiago said, who left his city Alcala de Henares close to the Spanish capital Madrid to begin his 11-month long journey.
He had said that part of his adventurous trip has been partly funded by his own resources and partly by other sponsors and well-wishers.
“I worked in Spain and saved money for this trip. I also have some sponsors and people who help me financially,” said the football fan for whom the trip is the biggest adventure so far on foot in his trekking career.
“I have never walked before like this far; this is the first adventure on foot. In 2019, I went from Spain to Saudi Arabia on a bicycle.”
On his trip to Saudi Arabia, he passed Iran and is thus not new to the country and has travelled to many Middle East countries as a passionate fan of Real Madrid.
“I have visited many Middle Eastern countries before, I really like sports and I travel a lot to see Real Madrid, I travelled to more than 60 countries,” he said.
As Sanchez took each step towards his destination, he also cares about the environment and collects rubbish around.
“Every day I collect waste on my way and exchange it for a plate of food and a night to sleep, a shower or even accommodation. On many occasions I clean the cities I visit, it is for myself, for you and the world, because I think that the world and the place where I sleep is my room here in the world. I am also collecting plastics and taking care of the world.”
“I am also planting trees along the way. I also go to schools and hospitals to dress up as a clown and brighten the children's day,” he added.
The Spanish traveller is carrying a small suitcase in a wheeled cart as part of his luggage.
“I bring a tent, a sleeping bag, a small gas stove, water purification tablets and the necessary clothes and a solar panel,” he had said.
He also wanted to demonstrate that you can go far with little resources and walking.
“The idea of the journey is to motivate and inspire other people to show that they can go very far with very little,” he had said.
‘Help me help’ on his popular social media account has a link to the Paypal account of the Spanish environmentalist, a strong fan of Real Madrid, who is aiming to make his way on foot towards Qatar, where the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be held between November and December and who has since gone incommunicado for the last three weeks after stepping on Iranian soil.
For the moment Sanchez's family, friends and well-wishers are looking not for monetary assistance but to help trace his whereabouts in Iran, a country hit by mass protests in Tehran as a reaction to the death of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini, taken into custody by Iran’s morality police for allegedly not adhering to the country’s strict Islamic dress code.
The experienced trekker, former paratrooper and soccer fan started his gruelling and challenging journey from Spain in January and has since travelled to France, Monaco, Italy, San Marino, Albania Greece, Turkey, Iraq and was in Iran, from where he had communicated with his family and relatives before losing contact with the outside world.
Santiago was hoping to go to Tehran, the Iranian capital, and then head to Bandar Abbas, a port in southern Iran where he would hop on a boat and reach Qatar in time for the World Cup.
“I am near the border of Iraq, I will cross Iraq and part of Iran, then I will arrive in Qatar, this is the first World Cup I (will be) attending. I will arrive in Qatar in time for the start of the World Cup,” the 41-year-old had told The Goan while he was in Iraq.
Explaining his daily walking schedule, he said he does not follow a fixed routine of covering certain kilometres in a day’s time.
“The kilometres I travel daily can vary by an average of 16 km per day, although there are days when I walk 30 km and another 7 km,” Santiago said, who left his city Alcala de Henares close to the Spanish capital Madrid to begin his 11-month long journey.
He had said that part of his adventurous trip has been partly funded by his own resources and partly by other sponsors and well-wishers.
“I worked in Spain and saved money for this trip. I also have some sponsors and people who help me financially,” said the football fan for whom the trip is the biggest adventure so far on foot in his trekking career.
“I have never walked before like this far; this is the first adventure on foot. In 2019, I went from Spain to Saudi Arabia on a bicycle.”
On his trip to Saudi Arabia, he passed Iran and is thus not new to the country and has travelled to many Middle East countries as a passionate fan of Real Madrid.
“I have visited many Middle Eastern countries before, I really like sports and I travel a lot to see Real Madrid, I travelled to more than 60 countries,” he said.
As Sanchez took each step towards his destination, he also cares about the environment and collects rubbish around.
“Every day I collect waste on my way and exchange it for a plate of food and a night to sleep, a shower or even accommodation. On many occasions I clean the cities I visit, it is for myself, for you and the world, because I think that the world and the place where I sleep is my room here in the world. I am also collecting plastics and taking care of the world.”
“I am also planting trees along the way. I also go to schools and hospitals to dress up as a clown and brighten the children's day,” he added.
The Spanish traveller is carrying a small suitcase in a wheeled cart as part of his luggage.
“I bring a tent, a sleeping bag, a small gas stove, water purification tablets and the necessary clothes and a solar panel,” he had said.
He also wanted to demonstrate that you can go far with little resources and walking.
“The idea of the journey is to motivate and inspire other people to show that they can go very far with very little,” he had said.
