The fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean, in the Espai d'Art of Benidorm

This morning the exhibition 'Mission: Atalanta' has been inaugurated in the Espai d'Art municipal. 'The fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean', an exhibition organized by the Ministry of Defense through its Subdelegation in Alicante in collaboration with the Department of Historical Heritage of Benidorm City Hall.

The Mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, who has been preceded by the Lieutenant Colonel Fernando Grasa and the Deputy Defense Delegate in Alicante, Colonel of Marine Infantry, Juan Bosco Montero, took part in the ceremony. Among those present, the councilor of Historical Heritage, Ana Pellicer, members of the municipal groups, representatives of the Navy, Air Force, Army and neighbors.

In his words, Toni Pérez has remembered the "connection" of Benidorm and the sea. He cited, on the one hand, the military heroism of Condestable Francisco Zaragoza from Benidorm, in the naval battle of Santiago de Cuba in 1898 and, on the other hand, the intense relationship of the merchant marine and fishing with the city.

About the exhibition that has opened its doors today, the mayor has underlined the work "without a doubt almost always ungrateful, often misunderstood and generally anonymous" developed by the components of the Spanish armed forces "guaranteeing the security of those from Spain or Europe that are fishing in waters that are not at all attractive beyond the fishery they provide, and very dangerous. "

Toni Pérez thanked the choice of Benidorm to exhibit 'Mission: Atalanta. The fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean. "We are there," said the mayor, "to show our city, the province or the world what you do to guaranteeing peace and security. You have here the city that will welcome you and will open the doors for you because everything you do to us is proud, we applaud it and, if we can and you let us, we show it. "

Previously, Lieutenant Colonel Fernando Grasa revealed that this exhibition intends to "spread the culture of Defense" through photographic exhibitions that seek to spread "the main international operations that our military develops" for peace around the world. Exhibitions that, stressed Grasa, "will not only be developed in the provincial capitals", hence the choice of Benidorm.

For his part, the sub-delegation of Defense in Alicante has regressed until 2005. Year in which "the ocean had become a high-risk area for the 20,000 ships that crossed the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, an obligatory main trade route between Asia and Europe ". Juan Bosco Montero pointed out that Somali piracy came to threaten the distribution of humanitarian aid from the UN World Food Program and that "in 2008 there were 134 attacks and 40 hijacking of vessels, among them the Spanish fishing boat Playa de Bakio, which showed that piracy was a threat to the activity of the tuna fleet, "which forced both the UN and the European Union to take action on the matter.

The Exhibition

The exhibition shows the work done by the Spanish armed forces since 2009 in their fight for the eradication of piracy in the waters of the Indian Ocean. It includes the effort and sacrifice of more than 5,000 soldiers of the Navy who have formed the crews of the warships and helicopters that have participated; also the personnel of the Air Force deployed in the Horn of Africa, in the Republic of Djibouti, of the Orion detachment; and those of the Army in the European Union Training Mission (EUTM for its acronym in English), which instructs the army of Somalia.

Atalanta Mission is the first action of the EU within the framework of its Common Security and Defense Policy (PCSD). The Council of the Union will transfer the Operations Headquarters from its current headquarters in Northwood (United Kingdom) to the Rota Naval Base in Cádiz and the Spanish Vice Admiral Antonio Martorell has been appointed the commander of the operation. The changes will be formalized on March 29, 2019, coinciding with the British exit from the EU. 'Mission: Atalanta. The fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean 'can be visited until September 28, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.