If someone needs help, you stand up. You don't look away.
En una noche de julio de 2021, cuando una multitud atacó mortalmente a Samuel Luiz en el paseo marítimo de A Coruña, dos hombres senegaleses sin documentación legal fueron los únicos en interponerse. Esta semana, más de tres años después de que el ayuntamiento los reconociera por unanimidad, Ibrahima Diack y Magatte NDiaye recibieron formalmente el título de hijos adoptivos de la ciudad —los primeros ciudadanos africanos en obtener tal distinción—, recordándonos que el coraje moral no entiende de fronteras ni de papeles.
- Cuatro jóvenes acaban de ser condenados por el asesinato homófobo de Samuel Luiz, cerrando un proceso judicial que tardó años en reconocer el crimen como delito de odio.
- Diack y NDiaye arriesgaron su propia seguridad —y su permanencia en el país— al intervenir como inmigrantes sin documentación ante la presencia policial inevitable.
- Durante más de tres años, el reconocimiento existió solo sobre el papel: la ceremonia oficial llegó con una demora que contrasta con la inmediatez del gesto que pretende honrar.
- Ninguno de los dos hombres acepta el título de héroe; atribuyen su acción a los valores inculcados por sus familias en Senegal, desplazando el mérito hacia una ética de la responsabilidad cotidiana.
- Al convertirse en los primeros africanos entre los 44 hijos adoptivos de A Coruña, su reconocimiento redefine qué rostros y qué historias encarna el civismo de la ciudad.
Una noche de julio de 2021, Samuel Luiz fue atacado por una multitud en el paseo marítimo de A Coruña y murió a causa de las heridas. En medio del caos, solo dos personas se acercaron a ayudarle: Ibrahima Diack y Magatte NDiaye, inmigrantes senegaleses sin documentación legal. Su presencia los exponía a ser identificados por la policía y deportados. Aun así, no se apartaron.
En septiembre de ese mismo año, el ayuntamiento votó por unanimidad nombrarlos hijos adoptivos de la ciudad. La ceremonia oficial, sin embargo, no llegó hasta esta semana —más de tres años después—, cuando el alcalde Inés Rey les entregó las placas en el salón de actos municipal. «De ese infierno que todavía nos duele como ciudad», dijo Rey, «surgieron dos figuras admirables a las que hoy honramos».
Ni Diack ni NDiaye se reconocieron en la palabra héroe. NDiaye fue claro: «Hicimos lo que teníamos que hacer. Son los valores que nuestros padres nos enseñaron en Senegal». Diack habló de su familia como de la herencia más valiosa que podía recibir —un principio sencillo: si alguien necesita ayuda, te levantas y actúas.
La ceremonia llegó apenas tres meses después de que el Tribunal Provincial de A Coruña condenara a cuatro jóvenes por el asesinato de Luiz y reconociera formalmente el crimen como delito de odio por homofobia. Cerrado el capítulo judicial, la ciudad completaba ahora el reconocimiento cívico. Diack y NDiaye se convierten en los primeros ciudadanos africanos entre los 44 hijos adoptivos de A Coruña, ampliando la lista de quienes, según la ciudad, encarnan sus valores más profundos.
On a July evening in 2021, Samuel Luiz was attacked by a mob on the waterfront promenade of A Coruña, a city in Galicia. He died from his injuries. In the chaos and violence, two men stepped forward to help him—Ibrahima Diack and Magatte NDiaye, both Senegalese immigrants without legal documentation. They were the only ones who tried.
For that act, the city council voted unanimously in September 2021 to name them adopted sons of A Coruña. The formal ceremony honoring them took place this week at city hall, more than three years after the vote. The delay was long, but the recognition was unambiguous. Mayor Inés Rey, a socialist, spoke of their "pure altruism" and the particular courage it took: as undocumented immigrants, Diack and NDiaye risked identification by police and potential deportation simply by being present and intervening. "From that hell that still pains us as a city," Rey said, "emerged two admirable figures we are here to honor today."
Neither man accepted the label of hero. NDiaye said they had simply done what they were taught to do. "We are not heroes," he told those gathered. "We did what we had to do. These are the values our parents taught us from Senegal." Diack echoed this, speaking about his family and what they had given him—something he described as far more valuable than money. His parents had taught him a simple principle: if someone needs help, you stand up. You act. You don't look away.
The timing of the ceremony carried its own weight. Just three months earlier, the Provincial Court of A Coruña had convicted four young men of Luiz's murder and formally recognized the crime as a hate killing motivated by homophobia. The legal reckoning was complete. Now came the civic one—a public acknowledgment that in the worst moment, two immigrants without status, without security, without the protections that citizenship provides, chose to be present for a stranger.
Diack and NDiaye are the first African citizens to receive the distinction of adopted son of A Coruña. The city maintains a list of 44 such honorees, a roster of people deemed to embody the city's values. For more than three years, the council had recognized what these two men had done. The formal presentation of the plaques that certified it came this week, finally making public what the city had already decided in its heart.
Notable Quotes
We are not heroes. We did what we had to do. These are the values our parents taught us from Senegal.— Magatte NDiaye
If someone needs help, you have to stand up.— Ibrahima Diack, recalling his parents' teaching
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did it take three and a half years to hand them the plaques after the vote?
The source doesn't say. But the gap between the decision and the ceremony—between knowing what they did and publicly honoring it—is its own kind of story. Maybe bureaucracy, maybe the city needed time to process the crime itself.
What was the actual risk they took by helping?
They were undocumented. In that moment, helping meant being seen, being identified, potentially being deported. They chose to help anyway. That's the thing that makes it matter—it wasn't safe for them to act.
Did they know each other before that night?
The source doesn't say. It only tells us they were the only two who stepped in. Whether they acted together or separately, whether they knew each other—that detail is lost.
What did the four convicted men get as sentences?
The source doesn't specify. It only says they were convicted and that the court recognized the homophobic character of the crime. The legal outcome is confirmed but not detailed.
Why does it matter that they're the first African citizens on this list?
Because it says something about who gets recognized, who gets claimed by a city as one of its own. For decades, A Coruña had honored 44 people. None were African. Then came two Senegalese immigrants without papers, and suddenly the list expanded to include them. That's a shift.
Did they stay in the city after that night?
The source doesn't tell us. We know they were there for the ceremony this week. But whether they remained in A Coruña all these years, whether they built lives there—that's not in the record.