The project explores the personal and collective stories of young Muslims born and raised in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on Moroccan soil. Ceuta is a border city marked by stark contrasts and holds the highest unemployment rate in Europe, around 30%. The series, developed between July 2023 and April 2025, is dedicated to the theme of suspension, a state of limbo, both physical and mental, that permeates the lives of the young people portrayed.
Inshallah, an Arabic word meaning " if God wills it" expresses a believer’s hope for a future event. This word captures the spirit of the project, which reflects the expectations, desires, and dreams of several Muslim youths living in the Príncipe Alfonso neighborhood of Ceuta.
Despite its Spanish-sounding name, El Príncipe is a predominantly Arab neighborhood, geographically isolated on the hillside bordering Morocco, far from the city's port, commercial areas, and tourist zones. The barrio has a complex and troubled history, often associated over the past two decades with violent drug trafficking and episodes of radicalization, including jihadism. Today, youth distress and crime reflect a deep social fracture, one that can only be healed by addressing the root causes of social exclusion, school dropout, and chronic unemployment.
This project aims to shed light on the uncertainty and precariousness faced by the neighborhood’s youth, yet from a perspective that sees them as protagonists: fully aware of their condition and capable of shaping their own futures, creating space for free thought and action. These are intimate, personal stories that reflect the perspective of a wider community: Moroccan youths with Spanish passports, European citizens living on the African continent, Muslims navigating their identity in relation to other cultures and religions.
The state of suspension experienced by these young people stretches between two poles: the internal perspective of the barrio, where everyone knows, watches, and controls each other, and an external gaze driven by the desire to escape; between daily responsibilities and leisure; the risk of falling into criminal networks and the longing for redemption; between social decay and the aspiration to study, build a career, and improve their environment.
Another key subject in this photographic project is the landscape of Ceuta itself. Its natural and man-made landmarks, as well as its historical monuments, contribute to reinforcing the sense of belonging among the city’s residents. Some photographs reveal the open sea, an expansive, liberating boundary. In others, the central figure is the “Valla”, the artificial barrier that runs from the hills down to the coast, marking the border between Spain and Morocco and aiming to prevent the illegal crossing of migrants.
Among the city’s monuments, the imposing statue of Hercules stands out, depicted from an uncanny angle as he holds up the two pillars so celebrated in mythology. It serves as a reminder that Ceuta has been a crucial point of reference since antiquity: a perennial borderland where peoples and cultures meet and intermingle.
Inshallah is ultimately a message of hope, one that seeks to reduce social and cultural discrimination and prejudice, and to invite young people, both Arab and Spanish, to recognize themselves within a shared geography and sense of place.
