A migrant boat in Barceloneta: Open Arms and La Fura dels Baus expose the migrant drama

BarcelonaOpen Arms and La Fura dels Baus launched the installation this Friday 3 days, 3 nightsA solidarity action in Barcelona's Plaça del Mar will see ten people live together for 72 hours inside a real migrant boat to highlight the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean. The initiative aims to bring to the heart of Barceloneta the extreme conditions faced by thousands of people each year in their attempt to reach Europe and break down the "emotional shield" that keeps this reality out of the spotlight.

Open Arms founder Òscar Camps emphasizes that "this is not a spectacle or fiction, but an open window onto a reality that unfolds every day just a few miles from here," referring to the crossings in which "thousands of people risk their lives without cameras, without a spotlight, and all too often." Camps denounces that "European migration policy is failing" because "the priority is not saving lives, but preventing them from arriving." The NGO has rescued more than 73,000 people in ten years and has warned that closing maritime routes "only displaces the flow of migrants towards more dangerous and deadly paths."

Three days and three nights

The action involves ten volunteer participants spending three days and three nights in a boat recovered from the sea, exposed to the cold and exhaustion, "without a script and without interruptions," while the public can observe in person or follow it live via streaming. The initiative has opened two channels for symbolic donations, through Atrápalo and Open Arms, which will be used entirely to fund the organization's rescue missions. Among the participants are volunteers from the organization, like Santi, who explained to the EFE news agency that he decided to join them because "being exposed to the elements for three days can attract many people and make visible a reality that we don't normally see." The participants agree that society has been forgetting the magnitude of the migration crisis and that actions like this can help to regain public attention and raise awareness. The migrant boat will be on display in Plaza del Mar until 8:00 PM on Sunday and will become a space for observation and reflection on a humanitarian crisis that, according to Camps, "Europe prefers to keep out of its field of vision."