Benidorm pays a heartfelt tribute to those who fell at sea and to the Submarine Weapon

This Tuesday, Benidorm City Council held a heartfelt tribute to those who fell at sea and to the submarine weapon at Plaça de la Senyoria, which served to continue strengthening even more the ties that unite the city. with the sea and with the Spanish Navy.

The event, in which the Frax Foundation collaborated, was attended by the mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez; Senator Agustín Almodóbar; the regional secretary of Infrastructure and Transport of the Generalitat Valenciana, Vicente Dómine; the regional deputy and councillor José Ramón González de Zárate, as well as numerous members of the municipal Corporation, in addition to the president of the Frax, Matías Pérez Such, as well as patrons of this entity and representatives of the civil society of Benidorm.

All of them have welcomed the representatives of the Navy who have travelled to the city to participate in this tribute. Among them, the director of the Institute of Naval History and Culture of the Navy, Vice Admiral Enrique Torres Pineyro; the ship captain and naval commander of Alicante, Joaquín Vegara; the director of the Naval Museum of Madrid, Captain Juan Escrigas; the colonel chief of the Alicante Civil Guard Command, José Hernández; the chief of the General Staff of the Navy Submarine Flotilla, frigate captain Jaime Bellido Jiménez; Lieutenant Commanders Manuel Corral Iranzo, commander of Isaac Peral S-81 submarine, and Gamboa García de Lomas, commander of Galerna S-71 submarine; Benidorm ship lieutenant Francisco Zaragoza Ivars, as well as several dozen submariners.

The tribute began with a few words from Pérez Such who thanked the City Council for “that the Frax Foundation is part of the historical relationship between the Navy and Benidorm” and recalled “with gratitude, respect and admiration” to the sailors of Benidorm that “ For centuries they sailed through seas and oceans around the world, facing wars, storms, pirates and a thousand calamities, leaving widows and orphans in this small town.

Afterwards, tribute was paid to those who fell at sea, and a laurel wreath was placed at the bottom of the monument by the mayor and vice-admiral Torres Piñeyro.

After the prayer to the Fallen at Sea, the Salve Marinera was subsequently interpreted, to give way to the tribute to the Submarine Weapon and to the fallen of all times, included in the armies of Spain, who one day fought and died for their homeland. Under the strains of 'Death is not the end', Toni Pérez and the Chief of Staff of the Submarine placed another laurel wreath under the plaque that the city placed in honour of the Submarine Weapon also at Plaça de La Senyoria, and then a prayer pronounced by the parish priest of San Jaime and Santa Ana, Juan Antonio González.

After both tributes, the vice admiral and director of the Naval Institute of Culture and History of the Navy, Torres Piñeyro, took the floor, pointing out that “there is no greater example of the dignity of a society, of a people, of a nation than honour the ancestors, those who preceded us and who have made us what we are today.” For this reason, he thanked this act to “remember those who generously gave their lives for Spain” and highlighted that Benidorm “is the only place in Spain where a tribute to the Submarine Weapon is commemorated year after year” as a sign of recognition and admiration for “the work and the way of contributing to the Navy, which in the end is to serve Spain.”

Likewise, the vice admiral thanked the mayor and the president of the Frax Foundation “for their support and recognition. Thank you very much for your appreciation, you know that it is reciprocal,” he concluded.

For his part, Mayor Toni Pérez has referred to “the blue ones that Gabriel Miró narrated about Benidorm” and recalled that “here in Benidorm, and many places in our region, it is said that there are three kinds of men: the living, the dead and those who go by sea. And here we have always gone by the sea a lot. So much so that we have loved, appreciated and respected it to the point that today we can say that we are one of the few cities that always looks at the sea.”

"Our north, the magnetic north, that of the heart in this case, is precise to the south, in l'Illa," he said and then explained to all those present that "whenever there was a boat, a ship, that travelled the Mediterranean, in which a man from Benidorm was on board when he passed the island he would make the crossing through the interior of the bay and sound the siren so that the town would know that there was a man from Benidorm on that crew. Possibly commanding that ship, but also in other jobs, and also in fishing, in privateering. There are not enough names – he continued – to narrate the seafaring history of Benidorm and its relationship of love and affection with the sea and with the Navy,” said the mayor.

Likewise, Toni Pérez recalled that on this day, “at this time, Admiral Cervera, on July 2, was probably making one of the most difficult and committed decisions of his life. 126 years ago that admiral decided to give up his most precious asset, which I suspect as a good sailor was not his life, but that of all those who accompanied him" in the naval battle of Santiago de Cuba and he recalled that on that crew was a man from Benidorm. , Constable Francisco Zaragoza Such, “who wrapped the flag of that ship around his body so that the patriotic flame, which so fills and satisfies us, would be kept alive.”

After the mayor's intervention, the Spanish Anthem was played and officially the event ended.