Kanyi Abdoulie comes from Gambia and is aged just 18. He now lives in the Spanish capital Madrid and like a growing number of young African migrants, he risked his life to get to Europe, losing his brother on the way.
"I get boat from Senegal to Canaries with my friends and my brother, but he died," Kanyi told CGTN Europe.
"We have a lot of days in the boat, and after he got tired, and I think too much cold, he died. I think that's why he died. If your time comes, nobody can stop it and you cannot do nothing."
Four people died on that nine-day crossing, thousands more suffering the same fate this year alone. Over 5,000 people have lost their lives attempting the journey during the first five months of 2024, according to NGO Walking Borders.
Emelia has opened her doors to African immigrants to help them settle into Spanish life. /CGTN Europe
But even those who survive face a new world of difficulties, a rising tide of far-right anti-immigration sentiment in Europe, a tidal wave of racism and rejection.
Lucky to make it to Spain alive, Kanyi was lucky too to meet Emilia.
A retired grandmother in her 70s, she was walking her dog one day and stopped to talk to some young African migrants living in the center for minors in front of her house in Madrid's Hortaleza neighborhood.
She was shocked to learn that one of the boys was about to be kicked out onto the street when he turned 18 - common practice.
"How could they leave a young boy of 18, who looked 15, out on the streets alone? I brought him home and that's how we started to shelter these boys," Emilia Lozano told CGTN. This was the beginning of Somos Acogidas (We Are Welcome), an NGO that helps migrants.
There are over 1,100 centers for minors housing over 15,000 young migrants around Spain, but when they turn 18 they are often left to fend for themselves.
Kanyi Abdoulie is having to overcome an increasingly hostile society in Spain regarding immigrants. /CGTN Europe
Changing attitudes in Spain
Anti-immigration sentiment is on the rise around Europe with Germany and Italy closing their borders. That has taken root in Spain too, the far-right VOX party now an established force in Spanish politics.
They demonize immigrants and in November even proposed new legislation banning young migrants from sitting on bus stops in Hortaleza - Emilia's neighborhood.
"Since the far-right began with their anti-migrant messages, we've seen a real rise in racism," she said. "Spain wasn't like this before."
Emilia and Somos Acogida have helped Kanyi to get his legal papers and find work at a local winery in Toledo. The NGO receives no official funding and survives on donations.
"To these politicians I would say, come and learn, meet them and get to know them," added Emilia. "I would tell them to learn some respect. These boys are like my children, they're just marvellous.”
For Kanyi, the feeling is mutual. "Emilia is just like my mom. I will never forget what she has done in my life," he said.
Thanks to her and Somos Acogida, he can keep dreaming.
"My dream is to be a footballer," he said. "To go and play, and definitely for Barcelona!"