After crossing into Iran three weeks ago, a Spanish man is not heard from since, according to his family.
Santiago Sanchez, an experienced trekker, former paratrooper and fervent football fan, was last seen in Iraq after hiking through 15 countries and extensively sharing his journey on a popularInstagram account.
In time for Spain's first match at the World Cup in November, the 41-year-old was going to learn how other people lived before reaching the first host country.
He told the AP that the journey was to motivate and inspire other people to show that they can go very far with very little.
After crossing the Iraq-Iran border, he sent an audio message to his family. He was going to Tehran to be interviewed by a TV station. He would have traveled by boat to Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.
"We are very worried, we can't stop crying, my husband and I," said his mother.
Spain's police and diplomats were helping the family with his disappearance.
We didn't worry about him not posting after a few days. After eight or nine days, my daughter and his friends started to think that we had to report his disappearance.
The Spanish ambassador to Tehran was handling the matter, according to the Foreign Ministry. The Iranian Foreign Ministry didn't return calls.
He traveled to Iran in the middle of the year to ride a bike from Madrid to Saudi Arabia.
His parents said that he has not been making propaganda. He only moves when he supports Real Madrid and walks to the World Cup on time.
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