The migrant who went from being a street vendor in Marbella to fashion model

"Not everyone who arrives on a migrant boat does so to commit a crime. We come to work and to look for a better life". This is how Cheikh Kane describes his experience and that of many others who risk their lives on small boats to reach Spain. "I pay contributions in this country and I have paid 3,200 euros to the Spanish authorities this year on my tax return. I am here to add, not to take", the young man from Senegal tells SUR.

The 26-year-old came to Marbella illegally, starting out as a street vendor on the town's promenade when one day a photographer spotted him and asked him if he would take part in a photo shoot. Since then Cheikh has been the image of international brands and has appeared on major fashion catwalks. "It hasn't been easy, but I'm happy with what I've achieved and to be able to help my mother every month," he said, adding that he is one of 17 children.

"I worked hard to pay for the 600 euros I had to pay for my passage on the boat, but I wanted to prosper," Cheikh recalls. The young man describes the journey as "the hardest, coldest and most fearful days of my life". Although the journey should have taken five days, the sea conditions meant that the crossing was extended to ten days. "We thought we were going to die. We were lost in the middle of the ocean with no food and we were running out of hope of reaching land, whether it was Spain or not, because all we wanted was to survive," he says.

"When we saw the lights of Tenerife nobody could believe it. We were crying, laughing... it was as if everything was erased with the hope of a new life," Cheikh describes. This euphoria also turned into deep sadness, as only one of the two boats that set sail for Spain arrived without fatalities. "I was on a boat with 120 passengers and behind it another larger one with 300 that broke in half," explains Cheikh, who remembers the friends he lost, as "only eight people survived".

After spending 15 days in quarantine, because it was 2021 and restrictions were still in place due to the pandemic and spending some time in a juvenile detention centre until he could prove his age, Cheikh set off for Marbella where he had an acquaintance from Senegal.

Life change

Cheikh moved to the town where he lived in a flat with ten other people and started selling handbags on the street. "This stage was very hard, always running from the police, losing merchandise and living in fear," says Cheikh, who adds, "It was clear to me that I wanted something better and I needed to get my papers."

Finally, the young man got a legal contract and regularised his situation. He now works as a public relations officer for a jet ski and boat rental company and at a nightclub, not forgetting his rising career in the fashion world, a sector he had never considered. "One day, a photographer saw me walking along the promenade and asked me if I was a model. I told him I wasn't, but he asked if he could take some photos. That's how it all started. With a stroke of luck," he says, adding "I had never thought about this profession."

From there, agencies and brands began to contact Cheikh, who has already been part of advertising campaigns for brands including Snipes, Adidas and Nike, as well as taking part in an international catwalk show for Cartier. His image has spread throughout Europe and he has even made the cover of Vogue magazine in Italy. "I know that my photos are in Germany, Belgium and France, among other places, but I was especially excited to see one in the La Cañada shopping centre here in Marbella. I thought how proud my mother would be," he says.

Cheikh dreams of becoming a top model. "I'm sure that meeting SUR has been another stroke of luck as well as a before and after in my career," he concludes.