El Ejido Apartment Building 1

Though his parents and family are from Mali, M. grew up and was educated in English-speaking former colony Gambia. He is my first and best friend in El Ejido.

The following pictures are from an apartment building inhabited entirely by men -- workiers in the invernaderos or green-houses. The Gambian community is tight-knit, with a formal group that meets on the first Sunday of every month. However in these living spaces, where every couch is also a bed and "lunch" is shared from a single platter between the 8 to 12 men who share the flat, people from many African nations coexist with visible solidarity. For example, those who succeeded in getting their papers in the recent round of regularizations are now very energetic in seeking out opportunities for their less-lucky friends to get them.

They share one common sentiment: "Moroccans no good." Some relate robberies they experienced passing through Morocco to get to Spain, others have had bad experiences in the greenhouses or on the streets of El Ejido here in Spain. In any case, as an African worker, "you don´t get Moroccan friends. No no no."