An archipelago was losing its ancient sport. African migrants may save it.
Mamadou Camara and his opponent step out into the sandy arena. The two men – towering, hulking figures – bend at the waist and lock into position, grabbing the edges of each other’s rolled-up white shorts, head on each other’s shoulder.
The referee blows his whistle. And with a deceptively light touch, Mr. Camara throws his opponent to the ground, a spray of golden dust flying upwards.
This is lucha Canaria – Canarian wrestling – and Mr. Camara is one of the Canary Islands’ best wrestlers. But unlike most locals who enter this traditional sport through their parents or grandparents, Mr. Camara learned about it when a coach came to the youth migrant center where he was living after he
