A 41-year-old Spanish man trekking from Madrid to Doha Qatar for the 2022 World Cup has gone missing after reaching Iran, his family has said.
According to the family of Santiago Sanchez, an experienced trekker, a former paratrooper and fervent football fan, he not has communicated with them since reaching Iraq two weeks ago.
He has not also updated his social media platforms where he has documented his journey so far over the last nine months. He has walked through 15 countries so far.
“We are deeply worried, we can’t stop crying, my husband and I,” his mother, Celia Cogedor, said.
Sanchez’s parents have reported him as missing to Spain’s national police and the Foreign Ministry.
Iran was his last stop before he could reach Qatar with 25 days to go.
Sanchez arrived in Iraqi Kurdistan in late September, after trekking thousands of kilometers carrying a small suitcase in a wheeled cart, packed with little more than a tent, water purification tablets and a gas stove for his 11 months on the road.
Calls to the Iranian Foreign Ministry from Spain seeking comment were not immediately returned.
