V Centenario First Tour of the World: State Honors for the heroes of the first tour of the world – La Voz de Cádiz

It was in Sanlúcar just 500 years ago. On September 6, 1522, 18 men led by Juan Sebastián de Elcano aboard the ship ‘Victoria’, arrived in the port of Cadiz. They had just completed the first trip around the world after three years of hard travel, demonstrating the sphericity of the Earth. They lost four ships and more than 200 lives along the way in an expedition that on its departure, in 1519, from the same place, was commanded by Fernando de Magallanes and was looking for a route to the Spice Shop. A Spanish feat that marked the future of modern history worldwide and that this Tuesday the Navy, heir to those sailors from five centuries ago, has commemorated in style, thus closing the activities that for three years have been remembering that crucial trip. Ordinance honors, 21-gun salute, seven ¡Viva España! and the national anthem welcomed His Majesty King Felipe VI on board the training ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano, moored at the Rota Naval Base. Once on board, they were waiting for him, in addition to the ship’s commander, the ship’s captain Manuel García, and other military authorities such as the Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy, Antonio Martorell; the president of the Congress of Deputies, Meritxell Batet; the Defense Minister, Margarita Robles; the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno; and the mayors of Seville, Antonio Muñoz, and of Sanlúcar, Víctor Mora. Spectacular naval revue Before 10 o’clock the Rota training ship set sail to stand off the coast and star in a naval revue, presided over by the King, in which 11 Navy ships paid tribute to Juan Sebastián de Elcano. An hour later, all of them could be seen on the horizon, perfectly placed. At his side, sailing astern of the Elcano, the replica of the ship ‘Victoria’ and other historic ships, such as the galleon ‘Andalucía’ and vintage, such as the ‘Pascual Flores’, the ‘Cervantes Saavedra’ and the ‘Shtandart’ , as well as dozens of private boats that have wanted to participate in this historic day. The first to honor Juan Sebastián de Elcano, on the port side of the brigantine-schooner, was the amphibious aircraft carrier ‘Juan Carlos I’, on board which was a representation of the diplomatic corps of the countries visited by that first expedition and of those corresponding to the different nationalities of the sailors who participated in it, as well as the admirals who are members of the Superior Council of the Navy. Four AV8B ‘Harrier’ planes from the Navy have made the encounter between the flagship and the training ship even more spectacular, since as the ‘Juan Carlos I’ has been approaching from the stern to the bow of the Elcano they have taken off one by one from of the aircraft carrier. After the ‘Juan Carlos I’, the amphibious assault ship ‘Galicia’, the combat supply ship ‘Patiño’, the F-80 class frigates ‘ Victoria’, ‘Navarra’ and ‘Reina Sofía’, the F-100 class frigate ‘Almirante Juan de Borbón’, the maritime action vessels ‘Tornado’ and ‘Audaz’ and the high-altitude patrol vessel ‘Vigía’. Another of the patrol boats, the ‘Caribbean Sea’, has been located throughout the naval review to starboard of the Juan Sebastián de Elcano, with a large representation of the media that have gone to cover the act. The passing in formation of four ‘Harrier’ fighter planes has put an end to the naval magazine that has been followed by many citizens from the coasts of Rota and Chipiona and in which military helicopters have also participated. «Spain ruled the empire of the seas» After that, the Juan Sebastián de Elcano, surrounded by all the aforementioned ships and approximately at least a hundred civil vessels, has sailed in demand of the buoy previously known as the Dog and that for three years it bears the name of the illustrious sailor, located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir river and which is the traditional point of landfall for all the boats that navigate those waters. Once there, a tribute ceremony was held, also presided over by His Majesty the King, with which the Navy wanted to bear witness and “remember the crews of the ships that began the circumnavigation voyage of Magellan and Elcano and, by therefore, to all those sailors who pledged their lives to sail to the other side of the horizon». “The ‘Victoria’ and her crew arrived at the expedition’s starting point three years after her departure,” the narrator read on the deck of the Elcano, reviewing the journey that ended five centuries ago. “His effort and his tenacity made it possible to complete a circumnavigation of the globe for the first time in the history of mankind.” «Juan Sebastián de Elcano completed the feat together with only 17 men of those 239 who had started the expedition three years ago. Today, 500 years later, his name still travels the world on the stern of our schooner brigantine, evoking the sailors who learned that Spain ruled the empire of the seas. The incomparable deed of those sailors who preceded us represents a precious example that should inspire the generations that inherit his legacy and deserves our most sincere tribute ». In his memory, the anthem ‘Death is not the end’ was sung, after which a wreath of flowers was thrown into the sea from the school ship. And to finish the acts, how could it be otherwise, the anthem of the Navy. Long live the King at the end and his Majesty’s greeting to the boats that surrounded the Juan Sebastián de Elcano, center and banner of homage to the men who, without knowing it, changed the world.