This photo was released by the Spanish Civil Guard on May 18. – AFP PHOTO / HANDOUT / SPANISH GUARDIA CIVIL
Why are some Internet users convinced that the photo of a Spanish civil guard with a baby is a “fake”? The gesture of Juan Francisco Valle, taking out a migrant baby out of the water in Ceuta on Monday, went around the world, after
having been posted on Twitter by the Spanish Civil Guard.
Quickly, Internet users wanted to verify the authenticity of the photo. While performing a reverse image search with the Yandex site, they discovered an article from 2020, posted on a Turkish site.
Problem: The illustrative image of this article has nothing to do with the photo of the Spanish Coast Guard. This article relate the rescue of a woman in Istanbul. As for the accompanying photo, it shows the man who threw himself into the sea with a buoy to save her.
Juan Francisco Told on Spanish radio COPE having seen with a colleague the mother of the child with the baby and going towards them: “The baby was frozen, cold. He then held the baby out of the water. The mother and the child were able to reach the Spanish beach. The infant is now safe,
according to the dailyEl Pais.
Several other people, including children, were attempting the crossing at the same time as this family, the guard recalls. One adult could not be saved.
More than 8,000 migrants have arrived since Monday in the Spanish enclave, which shares a border with Morocco. 5,600 were deported to Morocco according to AFP, citing the Spanish authorities.