The story of a young man who traveled by boat, was in a coma and is now trapped in an administrative limbo

PalmaWhen he arrived in Ibiza, Barp—a fictitious name to protect his identity—could practically not speak. He was also unable to look the people in front of him in the eyes. He had survived a 15-day sea crossing in a small boat, during which, according to his account, they ran out of fuel, water, and food. When they were rescued on May 4, 2025, he was already unconscious.

The young man spent almost two months at the Son Espases University Hospital, most of the time in a coma, after suffering from severe hypernatremia, kidney failure, and multifactorial encephalopathy. Subsequently, he spent another two months at Sant Joan de Déu recovering from the sequelae of the brain damage.

Now, more than a year after that arrival, he is trying to rebuild a memory severely affected by the crossing and the medical consequences that derived from it. And, at the same time, he is fighting to prove that he is a minor and to get out of what the professionals accompanying him define as a “total limbo”.

According to his birth certificate, Barp is 16 years old. The Administration, however, declared him of legal age in September 2025, after he had spent only a few days in a juvenile center under the guardianship of the Consell d'Eivissa. Now CEAR (Spanish Commission for Refugees) is trying to have this decision reviewed.

For about half a year, the young man has been working with doctors, psychologists, and social workers from CEAR to recover his memory and rebuild his history. He is currently in a humanitarian care center specialized for vulnerable adults in Seville, where he was transferred after being considered of legal age.

“He arrived in a very complex situation physically, psychologically, and cognitively. We had never seen such a vulnerable case,” explains social integration technician Violeta Parladé, who accompanies him along with reception technician Reyes Méndez.

From Guinea to Ibiza, after a three-year journey

Barp was born in Souguéta, a town in western Guinea-Conakry, near the border with Sierra Leone. He was 12 years old when one of the relatives he had been raised by died. A brother who lived in Algeria suggested he leave with him. Without telling his mother and without being very clear about what he would find, he set out on the journey.

Getting to Algeria was a journey in itself. According to his account, he passed through Guinea, Mali, and other territories on a trek where he had to face police control, mafias, and long walks through the desert. “It was a struggle to reach Algeria, it took us a long time. The police control the road and ask you for money. When we arrived in Mali, a mafia helped us get through. We kept changing cars, but sometimes we had to walk through the desert,” he recounts.

In Algeria, he worked to earn money and, finally, embarked for the Balearic Islands. He remembers that there were many people on the boat and that he was scared. Later, they ran out of fuel, water, and food. He also remembers people drinking seawater and “two deaths.” The rest of the journey is much more blurred in his memory.

On May 4, 2025, after 15 days adrift, the boat was rescued. Barp was already unconscious and was taken directly to the hospital. That year, 7,321 migrants arrived in the Balearic Islands. When he woke up at Son Espases, one of the first things he remembers is seeing a woman near him. “When I woke up, I saw a woman who was near me. I thought I was all alone, but there was that woman,” he explains.

The woman, according to what the CEAR workers were able to reconstruct, was caring for her husband, who was also admitted to the hospital. During those days, other people tried to find out who the young man was. One of them managed to locate his brother through a Facebook page where it had been reported that he had died. Finally, he was able to speak with him and his mother.

A few days in a youth center

When he was discharged from the hospital, Barp was transferred to a youth center under the guardianship of the Council of Ibiza. The doctors who had treated him had estimated that he was 14 years old. Since he did not have any documentation, a wrist X-ray was performed on him to try to determine his age.

His stay at the center, however, lasted only a few days. On September 23, 2025, the Public Prosecutor's Office declared that he was an adult. According to CEAR, the resolution did not specify a concrete age, but simply stated that he was an adult. Barp had not explained until then that he was a minor. The workers accompanying him state that at that moment he practically did not speak and that, despite knowing he was a minor, he was not in a condition to be able to prove it.

His situation occurred, moreover, in the midst of the debate over the mechanisms used to determine the age of young migrants arriving without documentation. Between December 2024 and October 2025, 209 orthopantomographies were performed in the Balearic Islands: 87 determined that the persons examined were minors and 122 that they were adults. According to the documentation collected by CEAR, this test was not performed on Barp in the Balearic Islands.

His state of health meant that, despite the declaration of legal adulthood, he was referred to a humanitarian reception center specialized in particularly vulnerable profiles, but intended for adults. When they put him on the plane, he thought they were returning him to his country. Now, however, he says he feels “at home” in Seville.

“I want to study to speak Spanish well, respect the rules, work, and stay in Seville. Here they have treated me very well,” he explains. The workers accompanying him assure that he is a diligent student and that “two classes a week seem few to him.” His progress has been so positive that he is now even considering participating in a theatrical activity.

Reconstructing memory to reconstruct life

The recovery has been possible after months of personal work and psychosocial support. One of the first objectives was to ensure he felt safe after an experience that professionals consider especially traumatic.

“He had seen things that a child should not see,” the technicians explain, and this had caused him to develop a deep distrust of his surroundings. “He has had an incredible reaction and evolution. It has been absolutely unexpected,” highlights Parladé. Méndez explains that they waited months before addressing his history in depth.

“He arrived in October and we did not start talking about his history until March because he was not ready. We have now been able to delve into more painful issues,” she points out. This psychological and social work has gone in parallel with the work of the CEAR legal team, which is trying to demonstrate that the declaration of legal adulthood does not align with the documentation they have subsequently been able to obtain.

With the help of his family, they obtained two birth certificates that place Barp's age at 16. They also managed to get the Consulate of Guinea to issue him a passport. To these documents are added the results of the dental test that he recently underwent in Seville. CEAR hopes that all this material will allow for the review of the decree of legal adulthood.

An administrative ‘limbo’

The declaration of legal adulthood has also had consequences for his administrative situation. According to CEAR, Barp was unable to take advantage of the extraordinary regularization process because he found himself in a contradictory situation: the State considered him an adult, but his Guinean documentation proved he was a minor.

The professionals accompanying him describe this situation as a "total limbo" and denounce what they consider an administrative "absurdity" that prevented him from presenting the documents during that process.

Now they hope that the revision of the decree may allow his situation to be regularized. Meanwhile, his application for international protection also remains pending. At CEAR, they have decided to prepare for all scenarios. The most unfavorable would be for the Administration to reject the revision of the age of majority. In that case, the asylum request would still remain to be resolved.

But Barp is already looking beyond the administrative procedure. He wants to study, learn Spanish, work, and stay in Seville. And, after having spent almost two months in a coma and having had to reconstruct a memory that had been severely affected, he is now starting to imagine a future as well. “There is no scenario worse than what he has already lived through. We will try to ensure that, when he leaves the center, he can have a dignified and independent life,” summarizes Méndez. His last visit to the neurologist, just this week, was positive.