Khadem revealed how she selected Spain as a place for sanctuary after having been to Malaga when she was competing at the Gibraltar International Chess Festival. “Before we had Sam [her son], we never really thought about moving out of completely,” she said. “But when he was born, we thought that maybe it would be a good idea to have a second place to live, that it would be good for him. “We already had Spain in mind because I often went to the Gibraltar International Chess Festival and we liked Malaga a lot. The mother-of-one, who is married to the film director Ardeshir Ahmadi, was welcomed to Spain when she arrived. She was even invited to meet Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez, who called her “inspirational.”
