• Interview: a Spanish writer trapped in the Maldives

  • Seaside Finolhu, Maldives or the extreme luxury of going through life barefoot

When we talk about the Maldives islands, our brain immediately takes us to an exotic paradise surrounded by wooden cabins, palm trees and colorful cocktails everywhere.

However, there is another parallel reality: the local islands

. Muslim territories very different from the

dream

resorts

that are shown in the magazines and that weave the background of my novel

Between Blue

(Ed. The Sphere of Books). A much cheaper and less luxurious way to travel to this indescribable nirvana.

Maldives

has two faces. The first, the one we know from the networks: prohibitive for many and chosen, almost always, for

honeymoons.

The second is the blue Eden within everyone's reach. A much cheaper way to travel, moving by ferry between the local islands. The archipelago is made up of about

1,200 islands, of which 203 are inhabited.

Of Muslim religion, it has recently begun to adapt to tourism. In recent years, the local islands closest to the capital have started to open their first hotels. They offer

snorkeling

activities

and the best scuba dives.

The best known island for this type of tourism is

Maafushi

, 40 minutes by

ferry

from the capital.

There it is possible to find

hotels for less than 20 euros a night

, do scuba dives in the best places in the world for about 30 euros, and above all, enjoy those paradisiacal beaches full of fascinating creatures.

A unique experience that the local inhabitants manage to make even more unforgettable.

Diving dives are one of the great claims of this enclave.

The waters of the Maldives are known throughout the world. They are home to diverse ecosystems and stand out for their variety of colorful

coral reefs.

In addition, they are populated by millions of marine species. Swimming with them is one of the most impressive attractions in the country. In Maafushi, they offer whole days by boat where you can

dive with mantas, dolphins and sharks.

The experience includes lunch: all

for 45 euros a day

.

Almost all backpackers come to Maafushi with the intention of

swimming with the whale shark

. After several excursions, they begin the

ferry

trip

to other well-known islands, such as Gulhi, 15 minutes from Maafushi, or Fulidhoo, with a bay full of sharks and rays that curious approach the shore.

However, despite the spectacular nature of this landscape and the richness of the fauna that inhabits it, this place is not always cared for by the locals as it should, since a recurring picture is the one that shows them dumping kilos and kilos of garbage every day. ocean.

And it is that not everything is idyllic in this paradise

, where the

inequality

between men and women unleashes injustices such as those that nourish the novel, a story about the healing power of the past and the importance of valuing the present whatever it may be.

To know more

The novel

Between Blues

tells the story of Federica, a young writer in the midst of a creative crisis who decides to escape to the Maldives in search of inspiration.

Before leaving, her grandmother gives her a diary that Federica had no record of, with the idea that she could turn it into her next work of fiction.

However, Maafushi, the kilometer-long island on which it is located, and circumstances will change everything.

Federica was not aware before leaving the new world she was going to face and how much she was going to learn trapped in a paradise where ships with food and water will soon stop arriving.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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