Benidorm pays homage to the Fallen at Sea and to the Navy

Benidorm City Council has celebrated at noon today a heartfelt tribute to the Fallen at Sea and the Navy, which took place at Plaza de la Senyoría. An act in which a plaque tribute to Admiral Julio Guillén Tato was also unveiled.

The symbolic act, in which Frax Foundation has collaborated, was attended by the mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, and the local authorities, the national deputy Agustín Almodóbar, the provincial José Ramón González de Zárate, as well as the endowment of the patrol boat Toralla, belonging to the Maritime Action Force of the Spanish Navy, which has been in the city for two days as part of the permanent mission to control maritime areas of national sovereignty.

Also present at the tribute was the admiral director of the Institute of Naval History and Culture of the Navy, Marcial Gamboa, the colonel of the Marine infantry, Juan Bosco Montero, the captains of the ship Joaquín Vegara and Pedro Márquez de la Calleja, colonel of the Civil Guard, José Hernández, the colonel second in command of the Special Operations Command, Carlos Gómez, the captain of the ship and director of the Historical Archive of the Navy, Lorenzo Gamboa, the chief commissioner of the Benidorm National Police, Ceferino Serrano, Guillén Tato's granddaughter María José Guillén, the president of the Frax Foundation, Matías Pérez Such and representatives of civil society from Benidorm.

The tribute began with a few words from Pérez Such who thanked the town hall "that the Frax Foundation is part of the historical relationship between the Navy and Benidorm". Subsequently, the plaque honoring Admiral Guillen Tato was unveiled. And then a tribute to the Fallen, proceeding to deposit a laurel wreath by the mayor and Admiral Marcial Gamboa in honor of the fallen.

After the interpretation of Salve Marinera, Admiral Marcial Gamboa gave "thanks for being able to be here" and did so for three reasons: "For the tribute to Admiral Guillen Tato, a great enlightened sailor who handled the pen and the sword. Because 125 years ago today, Admiral Cervera's fleet gave its life for Spain in Santiago de Cuba, and, as a submariner because the submarine to which I belong is honored”.

Gamboa affirmed that "the submarine force contributes effectively to the Navy's mission." He highlighted that this tribute is made "in a seafaring city such as Benidorm, a city open to the sea and with a great symbiosis with the Navy". Gamboa ended by saying that “those peoples who walk on the shoulders of their heroes go further. And Benidorm has enough reasons and heroes”.

For his part, Mayor Toni Pérez also recalled that "on a day like today, Admiral Cervera's fleet gave up its life for its country and Constable Zaragoza was on board." “Today is a very beautiful day” continued Pérez, who “invited all the residents to experience these days of homage to the Navy. An obligation that we have as Spaniards, which is to disseminate the role of the Navy and the Armed Forces”. The mayor finished “with our memory for all the fallen and our permanent gratitude. And also to the Submarine Navy and he referred to Guillén Tato “with a plaque that reminds us that he had two houses here. He fell in love with Benidorm so much that he spent many years of his life here. He was even in charge of collaborating in the paving of the square that we now walk on ”.

After the mayor's intervention, a tribute to the Submarine Navy was held, for which a laurel wreath was deposited in the monument in his honor. The act concluded with a prayer by the parish priest of San Jaime, José Antonio González, "so that the Virgin may hold those who fell at sea in her womb" and with the blessing of the two crowns deposited today. The interpretation of the anthem of the Navy and that of Spain has put the final point to the tribute.