Benidorm commemorates the Poppy Appeal with a parade of the Royal British Legion

One more year, the Royal British Legion (RBL) has organized the parade of the ‘Poppy Appeal’ in Benidorm. At 12 noon, from Castellón Street the parade has toured Paseo de Levante to Rincon de Loix to the rhythm of the band of bagpipes and drums, Torrevieja Pipes and Drums.

The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, has participated in the event that in martial formation has travelled aound the streets, chaired by the flags of Spain, the United Kingdom, and those of the districts of the RBL, carried by the ‘Standards Bearers’. The ‘Chelsea Pensioners’, pensioner soldiers of the Royal Hospital of Chelsea have also participated.

Then, on l'Ametlla de Mar Avenue, the official act took place in which Toni Pérez took part, in addition to Don Cubbon, president of the RBL district; Kate Green, president of the team abroad; Sara-Jane Morris, British consul in Alicante; Lieutenant Commander of the United Kingdom Navy, embassy representative, Ed Dunn; the pensioner soldier Skippy Teasdake; and the organizer of the Poppy Appeal, Andrew Richarson.

In his speech, Toni Pérez recalled "the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers" who gave their lives "to ensure peace and democracy in a strong, prosperous and united Europe." The mayor congratulated the initiative of the Royal British Legion and encouraged them to continue persevering in “the defense of the values ​​that unite us” to the British and Spanish peoples, and even more so in Benidorm where “for British people we always offer happiness". Toni Pérez also recalled that the RBL has “more than 700,000 members worldwide; about 4,000 in Spain and more than a thousand in our province ”.

The Royal Bristish Legion is a non-profit entity that, with the celebration of the Poppy Appeal, distributes 25 million cloth poppies, mostly made by people with functional diversity. The benefits obtained in the form of donations are destined to help former soldiers and their families who have suffered the consequences of military conflicts.

The icon that presides over this celebration throughout the world, the poppy, comes from the vision, after the First World War, of the Flanders fields in which so many soldiers lost their lives. Large green areas where thousands of red poppies stood out.