Exactly one year ago, on April 29, 2024, we landed in Madrid on an Iberia flight.
On that nonstop flight from Quito, with no clear return in sight, I traveled with my daughter, my wife, my in-laws, and my brother-in-law. It was a family trip we had planned months before, but it could now become a permanent relocation thanks to a new type of visa I had not even known existed a few months earlier.
What did I know about Spain? Very little.
I had visited Madrid in 2018 for barely 48 hours, after spending a week in Moscow and another one at the top of the Swiss Alps during a period of self-discovery. How could I have known back then that this beautiful city might one day become my new home?
What did I know about artificial intelligence, programming, and multimedia? Nothing.
I was still developing as an artist, free from contracts and obligations, except for the financial ones needed to cover my travels and personal whims.
And yet, those same areas of knowledge eventually allowed me to take the risk, bring my family with me, and arrive with four suitcases to face a migration and social process.
To be fair, half of the paperwork was already advanced. We had the appointment scheduled and our hopes were high. After submitting everything, we were told we would receive an answer within up to 20 working days. We used those days to travel, as originally planned, to imagine a possible new destination, and to wait anxiously every day for a response.
After 30 days, after dealing with unexpected situations and with the enormous help of our new friends Pato and Carol, we received the final approval while staying at their home.
And just like that, in the blink of an eye, one year of this adventure has now passed.
Of course, I am fully aware of how lucky we have been. The reality of migration is as diverse as the thousands and thousands of migrants who look for a better future every hour. And even though Spain has often felt like a second home to me, there is no hiding the sadness and melancholy that come from being far away from family.
And speaking of family, I have to think about my mother, who migrated from Colombia to Ecuador and showed me from an early age that starting a new life in another country comes with good and difficult moments.
I think of my grandparents, who built their lives far from the cities where they were born.
And I think of my father, whom I admire more every day as the head of a family. His vision and teachings have given me the strength and confidence to now guide the path of my own.