Spanish island photography exhibit showing faces of migrants trashed by vandals

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - An outdoor photography exhibit showcasing close-up portraits of migrants who landed on the Spanish island of Tenerife was vandalized on Wednesday.

Vandals symbolically slashed the throats of the migrants’ portraits while the exhibit was on display in the touristic town of Puerto de la Cruz.

All of the portraits were taken of migrants when they were living in a military barricade on the island. The aim of the exhibit, according to organizers, was to “invite reflection about migration and peoples’ rights to travel to other countries to seek a future with more and better opportunities.”

Local police are investigating the attack on the artwork as a potential hate crime, according to local media.

A protest was also organized on Wednesday evening for the community to show their rejection of xenophobia and repair the artwork.

“This kind of hateful act only makes us double up our efforts to help society recover spaces of conversation and reflection about something as harsh as migration. The Canary Islands play a major role and it should be welcoming,” said Festival Periplo, the exhibit organizer.

In 2020, more than 23,000 people successfully made the dangerous journey from Africa to the Canary Islands, an increase of more than 750% compared to the previous year, according to the Interior Ministry.

That trend has only continued to increase. Until Oct. 15, 2021, nearly 15,000 people had arrived on the shores of the Canary Islands, almost double the figure from the same time last year. At least 786 people have died on the journey this year, according to UN data.