Charlie Smith
A BRITISH tourist has been reported missing on the Costa del Sol.
Juaad Arif, 23, from Manchester, was last seen on June 8 when he had a video call with his family.
His parents, Zahida, 47, and Mohammed, 51, said they felt ‘helpless’ after not hearing from their son for 10 days.
The young Brit, nicknamed ‘Buffy’, who had been studying Chartered Accounting at Manchester University, has been in Spain since mid-October.
Zahida, who is self-employed, said he’d wanted to ‘take a break’ from the second year of his course but had then become trapped in Spain due to the coronavirus lockdown.
The worried mum, who has three daughters and another son, said she ‘didn’t know what else to do’ and called on the public for any information.
Speaking from her home in Moston, she told the Olive Press: “I feel really helpless and I don’t know what to do.
“I’m really worried, he is 23 years old, in a foreign country away from his family or any help.
“It’s not like him, every day he’s messaged me, but both his Spanish and English phones are ringing out.
“Two friends he was with have not seen him either and we’ve not heard from him since last Monday when he Facetimed us.
“He was cooking a chicken curry and plain rice and said he was going to do an all-nighter to catch up on TV.
“He was watching a Turkish drama called Ertugrul, we all watch it.”
Juaad, who was born in Oldham, had also been ‘house-sitting for a pal’, while Zahida had sent him a parcel to an address in Benahavis in December.
She said her son, who ‘doesn’t speak much Spanish, had also been involved in a ‘scuffle’ with Spanish police and asked to produce his UK driving license.
Zahida was in contact with Greater Manchester Police who told her ‘there was nothing they could do’ and she is now in contact with the British Consulate in Spain.
Juaad is believed to have been staying near a golf course and was last pictured wearing black sunglasses and a black North Face sweater on a roof terrace on Monday.
Zahida, who said she used to be known as ‘Buffy’s mum, added: “When we were talking on Monday I felt that he was a bit worried.
“He had a bit of a money-problem and had been house-sitting for someone.
“He went on holiday in October and was due back in December and then lockdown happened and he said he would wait until he could fly back.
“He was due to meet some mates from university.
“It was really out of the blue for him when he went, but I think he just wanted a year off from uni.
“I think things were just getting on top of him.
“He’s got a lot of mates in England who haven’t heard from him.”
Juaad is described as five feet, nine inches tall, with a medium-length beard, black hair, dark brown eyes, medium build and does weight lifting.
Do you have any information about Juaad? Write to [email protected]
