City Council and Frax Foundation announce the 5th Naval History Research Prize, which doubles its amount to 6,000 euros

Benidorm City Council and the Frax Foundation have announced the fifth edition of  'Miquel Llinares Barceló' Naval History Research Award, which in 2025 will double its endowment to reach 6,000 euros, which are added to the 1,500 euros awarded by the Consistory. This was announced this Monday at a press conference by the mayor of the city, Toni Pérez, and the president of the Frax Foundation, Matías Pérez Such, in a press conference in which they announced the winners' names in this edition.

Also participating in this appearance were, among others, Vice Admiral Enrique Torres Piñeyro, director of the Institute of Naval History and Culture; Captain Juan Escrigas Rodríguez, director of the Naval Museum; the ship captain and Naval commander of Alicante, Joaquín Vergara Jiménez; Benidorm ship lieutenant Francisco Zaragoza Ivars; Jaime Llinares Fuster, patron of the Frax Foundation and son of Miquel Llinares; and Eusebi Chiner, also from Benidorm and winner of the first edition of the award. All of them have been part of the jury that has decided this fourth edition of 'Miquel Llinares Barceló' together with the councillors of Presidency, Culture and Historical and Cultural Heritage of Benidorm City Council, Juan Díaz, Jaime Jesús Pérez and Ana Pellicer, respectively.

Toni Pérez explained that since the first edition, the City Council has actively participated in this award for "the extraordinary relevance of the maritime and naval history of the city and the province of Alicante", which requires initiatives such as this one, aimed at "its recovery, safeguarding and dissemination” as “a fundamental part of our history.” “Benidorm is a city that has always looked at the sea,” the first mayor reiterated, to also emphasize that these research works “return to the present and project into the future” a part of history “that makes us unique and represents us”, as is the great connection between Benidorm and the Navy and the sea.

Along with the announcement of the fifth edition of the 'Miquel Llinares Barceló' Award, today the winner of the fourth call for the award has been decided, which will be presented this afternoon in the City Hall assembly hall starting at 8:30 p.m. and which will be completed with the last of the conferences of the 'I Days of the Sea' organized by the Frax Foundation, which is titled 'Leadership at Sea' and which will be offered by Vice Admiral Marcial Gamboa Pérez-Pardo.

As the mayor has stated, in a meeting held this morning, the jury of the fourth edition of the award has decided to recognize the work 'Benidorm: sea, tourism and Men of the Sea' with the 'Miquel Llinares Barceló' Award. Sailors of Benidorm, great at sea, great on land', presented by Professor Francisco Amillo Alegre, endowed with 3,000 euros. As regards the Benidorm City Council Award, with a prize of 1,500 euros, this has gone to the study entitled 'The Ordinances of the Navy and the Consulate of the Sea in tapestries, letters from Puebla and Corso de Benidorm', presented by Professor Antonio Bravo.

The president of the Frax Foundation, Matías Pérez Such, has highlighted that these are two “extensive works that have required long and expensive research and preparation” and has announced that for next year, coinciding with the fifth edition In addition to increasing the financial endowment, “a volume will be published with the compilation of the awarded works in these five editions” so that they can be “disseminated and studied” in educational centres, libraries and other study spaces. Likewise, Pérez Such has indicated that, starting with this fifth edition, “the successive award-winning research will be published in book format,” which, together with the increase in the prize to 6,000 euros – or 7,500 if the work also obtains the City Council prize. – “It will make it much more attractive so that researchers can apply not only from the province of Alicante but also from other parts of Spain.”

Tribute acts

The vice admiral and director of the Institute of Naval History and Culture, Enrique Torres Piñeyro, thanked the work of initiatives such as this type of award for "bequeathing to future generations the knowledge of our naval history", as well as the "support of the City Council and the city of Benidorm” in everything that has to do with the Navy.

Proof of this great connection between both are the tribute events that will take place tomorrow in the city, in which tribute will be paid to those who fell at sea and to the Submarine Weapon, starting at 10:30 a.m., at Plaza de la Senyoria . The mayor invited all Benidorm residents to join the Navy representatives who will travel to the city and participate in them.