Vicente Zaragoza Casamayor from Benidorm, honored for a lifetime dedicated to the tuna fishing

Vicente Zaragoza Casamayor from Benidorm has been honored for a lifetime dedicated to the tuna fishing during 'Arráez y sotarráez. XXI Meeting of Captains of Almadraba' that has taken place these days in the town of Isla Cristina in Huelva and that in this edition was dedicated to Benidorm and its captains, who for generations deployed this technique of catching tuna in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

At 97 years old, Vicente Zaragoza, who has lived in Barbate practically since he was required for tuna fishing in this town in Cádiz, received this recognition yesterday Saturday at an event held at the CIT Garum on Isla Cristina, which he attended with his family and where he was accompanied by the mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez; the councilors of Historical Heritage and Presidency, Ana Pellicer and Juan Díaz; the first mayor of Isla Cristina, Jenaro Orta; and tuna fishing professionals.

During the event, the honoree remembered his years setting traps mainly in Sancti Petri and Barbate, first under the orders of his father and other Benidorm natives and years later as captain. Before the attendees, Arráez recalled anecdotes, and names of classmates and teachers, and showed the passion he felt and continues to feel for an art in which the people of Benidorm stood out, being called and hired by the Dukes of Medinaceli and Medina Sidonia to set the almadrabas. in all its territories.

In total, Vicente Zaragoza, who retired around the age of 80, had more than 60 trap seasons, achieving more than 100,000 catches throughout his career.

At the end of the tribute, the mayor thanked the 'Friends of Tuna Thunnus thymus association, chaired by José Antonio López, “for the affection with which they have treated Benidorm in this Meeting that appeals to a crucial part of our history as a town; a history full of names who, like Vicente Zaragoza Casamayor, gave a good example of their expertise setting traps and working in all their trades from Sicily to the Andalusian coast and northwest Africa.”

Likewise, he stressed that "Vicente Zaragoza Casamayor is an institution for Benidorm and the living history of our city and that link that for several centuries kept us closely linked to towns such as Isla Cristina, Barbate or Tarifa and that are still latent."

Before the tribute, the Latin professor Juan M. Ruiz Acevedo evoked in a conference the captains of Benidorm who set the trap in La Tuta in the period 1779-1828: Bautista Pérez, Jaime Pérez, and Manuel Barceló.

Benidorm was also present at this meeting last Friday with the doctor in Hispanic Philology from the University of Alicante Francesc Xavier Llorca Ibi, who offered the conference 'The snoring of tuna: noise or blade'; and also from the photographer Jaume Fuster, who on October 9 will receive the cultural award 'Ciutat de Benidorm' and whose exhibition 'Atunes de Cianotipia' has been exhibited these days at the CIT Garum on Isla Cristina.