Gran Canaria: Western Sahara podcast wins journalism award

The winners of the 8th Saliou Traoré Prize for journalism on Africa written in Spanish, the team behind Onda Cero’s podcast ‚La Provincia 53‘, emphasised on Wednesday, whilst accepting the award, that it helps to give a voice to the Sahrawi people, who have felt betrayed and abandoned by Spain, their former colonial power.

At the award ceremony held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the podcast’s director, Jorge Abad, emphasised that this is at least how many Sahrawis feel: that more than five decades after the Spanish left what was then a de facto province, Morocco continues to «occupy a territory that does not belong to them».

«This podcast serves as a reminder that Spain bears a great responsibility for the fate, the future and the fortunes of a people it betrayed and abandoned,» Abad added in his speech.

Western Sahara: Podcast examines Spain's colonial responsibility

In his speech, he also lamented that in Spain we pay «little and poor attention to Africa», particularly with regard to Western Sahara, «which is simply ignored, as if it had never been a colony» and which, therefore, remains «a brotherly people».

This radio programme, the first of its kind to win the Saliou Traoré Award, organised by the EFE News Agency and Casa África, explores Spain’s history in Western Sahara; it is narrated by Carlos Alsina and produced by María Jesús Moreno.

Jorge Abad has also spoken about this very issue, expressing his delight that the podcast has been recognised in this year’s awards «as a genre worthy of being counted amongst the finest works of journalism».

In the words of José Segura, director of Casa África, the award-winning work is «very special due to its scope and depth», whilst also being «ambitious» in its use of «unhurried journalism» to tackle a story that he has not hesitated to describe as «complex»: Spain’s withdrawal from Sahrawi territory.

In this regard, Segura pointed out that practising journalism «has never been easy», because it requires precisely «time, resources, sound judgement, conviction, method, many hours of work and an enormous passion for storytelling», something that is more necessary than ever today.

The Saliou Traoré Prize recognises investigative journalism and dialogue with Africa

In his speech, the president of the EFE News Agency, Miguel Ángel Oliver, emphasised that the award-winning work involves «extensive research and documentation that does not seek to judge, from our present-day perspective, events that took place decades ago, without taking into account the context or values of the time».

Oliver has also taken the opportunity to highlight this award as a way of «strengthening cultural and educational ties between Spain and Africa, deepening mutual understanding and dialogue, and helping to overcome a stereotypical image» of a continent where the presence of Spanish journalists remains strong despite the difficulties.

For his part, Josué Íñiguez, the Councillor for Security, Community Relations and Culture in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, has admitted that he came to this work with a personal connection to the subject, as part of his research into his own family and the Annuar disaster: «In this chapter of the history of Spain, the Canary Islands and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, *La Provincia 53* helps to shed light on all of this.»

Meanwhile, Luis Padilla, Director-General for Relations with Africa at the Canary Islands Government, has welcomed the fact that this award has been given to «a fantastic piece of journalism», of which he has admitted to being a fan «because of its rigour» and the way it tells a part of history «through extensive fieldwork», whilst addressing such topical issues «as the connection with Tarfaya».

The Saliou Traoré Prize honours his journalistic legacy

Elina Sokhna Traoré, Saliou Traoré’s granddaughter, has pointed out that getting to know her grandfather better in recent days has helped her realise that journalism is not just «reporting on what happens; it is engaging with realities that others prefer to avoid», something that takes on particular significance «in times of disinformation where immediacy is prized, and in which rigorous journalism, far from being a luxury, has become more than necessary».

The award, named after the veteran Senegalese EFE correspondent who died in Dakar in 2018, comes with a cash prize of 5,000 euros and a commemorative statuette, designed by the Spanish artist María de Frutos, winner of the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 2015 and the Aurelio Blanco Prize for Jewellery in 2009.

For this eighth edition, the Saliou Traoré Prize is sponsored by the Government of the Canary Islands and the Casa África Consortium, with the support of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council, Binter and RIU Hotels & Resorts.