Hero of the DANA floods in Malaga, rescued from dwelling below bridge

In a poignant coincidence, Mansour Konte, the 20-year-old Guinean asylum seeker who grew to become a celebrated hero in Malaga for rescuing a lady throughout the devastating 2024 DANA floods and later who portrayed King Balthazar within the metropolis’s 2025 Three Kings Parade, has spent almost a 12 months dwelling below a bridge in excessive hardship. His story is a reminder of the intense scenario many endure in winter in Spain.

From perilous small boat crossing to hero of town

Mansour arrived in Spain 5 years in the past by way of the perilous Canary Route, fleeing Guinea Conakry at age 15. His life modified dramatically in 2024 when, throughout the torrential rains from the DANA storm, he noticed a lady paralysed with worry within the rising floodwaters on the street Heroe de Sostoa. With out hesitation, he approached the lady within the rising to seek out she was frozen with worry, and so he determined to select her up in his arms and carry her to security – a second captured on video that went viral on social media. The act earned him widespread reward, together with an honorary point out from the mayor for his heroism and kindness.

The accolades reached a peak when he was chosen to play King Balthazar in Malaga’s January 2025 Cabalgata de Reyes Magos, a task chosen to honour his bravery and promote inclusivity, and making a shift away from controversial practices within the parade. Usually, individuals of observe in a city are celebrated by making them one of many kings, main in lots of instances to the extremely controversial “blacking up” of a white individual to play the function of King Balthazar. For the January 2025 parade, Mayor Paco de la Torre introduced the top of this observe in Malaga and the selection this 12 months of Mansour.

Mansour – Fleeting image of hope

For a quick second, Mansour symbolised hope and integration for immigrants in Spain. But, fame proved fleeting. Looking for stability, Mansour moved to Madrid chasing a promising job provide as a photo voltaic panel installer, full with housing and a €1,500 month-to-month wage. Actuality shattered expectations: he acquired simply €120 a month, forcing him to sleep on the streets within the capital. Destitute, he returned to Malaga together with his final earnings, briefly renting a room within the Huelin neighbourhood—solely to have his belongings and paperwork stolen, complicating job searches even additional. For 11 months, he survived below the Puente del Carmen (often known as Muelle Heredia), enduring chilly, dampness, and starvation, generally consuming solely each three days.

His plight got here to gentle via native media, prompting speedy motion. On Christmas Eve 2025, Ana Medina, moved by studies of the previous “Rey Baltasar” dwelling invisibly beneath a busy bridge, coordinated with Fundación La Merced Migraciones, the Dehonian congregation and San Antonio de Padua parish; they discovered Mansour, barefoot and carrying only a bag of fresh garments, and welcomed him into Casa San Juan, a brief shelter supported by the muse.

Small acts of kindness and failures of successive governments

Arriving in donated flip-flops, Mansour expressed humble gratitude: a scorching bathe and a mattress have been luxuries after months of publicity.

Mansour’s journey – from perilous migration crossing to heroic rescue to superstar, exploitation, homelessness, and now short-term refuge – is a stark reminder revealing systemic gaps in migrant help. But, on Christmas Eve, acts of compassion from people and charitable organisations supplied him heat and neighborhood.

Article 47 of the Spanish Structure states that everybody within the nation has the inalienable proper to first rate and ample housing. But successive governments have didn’t uphold this proper, and so it’s all the way down to charitable organisations to do what they’ll to place a roof over the top of 1000’s of individuals like Mansour each time they’ll. In the meantime one other estimated 33,000+ sleep tough each night time, a quantity that has doubled within the final two years.