Involved in a fatal accident in the south of Spain while he was on vacation, a man from Rivière-du-Loup is currently experiencing months of great anxiety and uncertainty. Mathieu Béland, 27, is stuck abroad awaiting further legal proceedings. A waking nightmare for him and his family.
For four months now, Mathieu Béland has been trapped in the land of Gaudí. Beach vacation? We forget. Rather, he is going through hell for a story in which he found himself, despite himself, several thousand kilometers from home.
“It’s amazing, I always have difficulty realizing everything that happens to me,” he shared at the start of the week. At the end of the line, we can clearly sense his dismay. “We are not aware of how quickly our lives can change,” he said.
His life was turned upside down in a split second in July. By car in Andalusia, one Sunday afternoon, Mathieu Béland was scouting for a day at the beach with his sister Audrey who was to join him a few hours later for ten days in Europe. It was then that he found himself at the center of a road accident that still haunts him today.
While wanting to cross a particular intersection, the configuration of which does not exist in North America, the motorist unknowingly carried out an illegal maneuver. A 58-year-old motorcyclist lost his life.
“The GPS was telling me to go left, so I made myself at home, put on my turn signal and pulled in. But I wasn't in the right place. It was later explained to me that I should have been further to the right to turn there,” he said.
“The lack of knowledge of this type of intersection, which we do not have in Canada, meant that I made a bad maneuver without realizing it.”
The motorist realized that a motorcyclist was coming from the opposite direction when he was in the middle of the intersection at low speed. He then stopped.
“The man on the motorcycle reacted. He lost control and fell before hitting my car […] I saw it all unfold before me. These are images that I constantly relive.”
Mathieu Béland has been a truck driver for several years in Quebec. He drives every day while ensuring that he complies with road safety instructions. He has no criminal record and has never even committed an offense under the Highway Safety Code. “I was very careful, very attentive, during the maneuver, but it was not enough…”
THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURES
Barely twelve hours after his arrival in Spain, the man who now lives in the Quebec region found himself handcuffed, sitting behind an armored van, heading to the police station. He spent a night in a cell before being brought before Spanish justice.
Completely left to his own devices, in an environment where he did not understand the language, he then spent another night in prison before he was conditionally released, his parents having posted bail of $75,000 Canadian (50 000 euros) necessary. His driving license and passport were confiscated.
The young man is accused of grossly reckless homicide and faces several years in prison if convicted. A disproportionate accusation according to his lawyers who are trying to allow him to find Quebec and his family, awaiting the rest of the procedures. They maintain in particular that it is a foreigner who was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Mathieu Béland, who is represented by Spanish lawyers, is now waiting for news. The days are long and the suspense is unbearable. He is unable to work and must report to court every week.
“At first, I was told it could take a week or a month. Currently, nothing has changed and I remain without an answer,” he regretted, admitting himself to being in a “bad situation”. “I’m completely in the dark.”
He claims to have contacted the Canadian embassy, MP Bernard Généreux and the office of Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada. The Canadian government cannot, however, intervene and interfere in Spanish legal affairs. His hands seem to be tied.
Mathieu Béland and his loved ones launched a GoFundMe campaign to collect donations to enable him to meet his needs. He estimates that the costs generated by this event represent more than $110,000 to date. This amount does not include expenses related to his life in Quebec. Costs that he must continue to bear.
