On the bridge of Juan Sebastian de Elcanoher cheeks reddened by an emotion that she struggles to conceal, the Princess of Asturias energetically shakes her Navy midshipman’s headgear. Among her comrades, the heir to the throne says goodbye to Spain and her parents, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. It is noon in Cadiz when the training ship sets sail towards the American coast. The trip will last six months.
It has already been three days since Leonor took up residence on this boat, named in 1927. Time to familiarize herself with the ship and life at sea. Military exercises, a reception at the town hall and various thematic visits punctuated these days in the Andalusian port city. On the morning of the big departure, the 76 students from the Naval Military School of Marín go to the Santo Domingo convent for a final mass. The service completed, the aspirants take the path of Juan Sebastian de Elcano in procession, carrying with them an effigy of La Galeona, the Virgin of the Holy Rosary, patron saint of the Spanish Navy. In the streets of the city, crowds flock to see the spectacle, shouting “Viva España” and “Viva la princesa”.
On the quayside of the port of Cádiz, parents and onlookers wait to wish “good luck” to the future elite of the Navy. Searching in the crowd for their loved ones, the aspirants find them with moist eyes. The emotion is palpable when the sovereign couple’s sedan arrives. Acclaimed, Felipe VI and Letizia warmly greet the public before joining the princess aboard the ship. A royal privilege, they will be able to say goodbye to their daughter in privacy, while a swarm of journalists have gathered at the port. For the occasion, the king wears his Navy uniform, while his wife wears a… navy blue pantsuit.
The crew finally assembled in full on deck, the king, joined by the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, said a few words to wish these future officers a safe journey. A trip that the sovereign had also accomplished during his younger years and “which counts among my best memories of military training”, he recalled during his speech on Pascua Militar Day, January 6.
With the stroke of twelve noon, the churches of Cádiz sound the hour of departure. The king and queen return to the quay, the sailors go up the gangway which separates them from the mainland and cast off. Observing the ship gradually move away, Felipe VI embraces his wife, who cannot hold back her tears. Both send kisses to their daughter, the last before summer.
Like the conquistadors in their time, the Juan Sebastian de Elcano will stop at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, before beginning the long transatlantic crossing. After reaching Salvador de Bahia, in the north of Brazil, at the beginning of February, the crew will head to Montevideo, in Uruguay, before crossing the legendary Strait of Magellan.
Arriving in the Pacific Ocean, Princess Leonor and her comrades will sail along the coast of Chile, with a stopover in Valparaiso then in El Callao, in Peru. After crossing the Panama Strait, the boat will head towards Cartagena de Indias and Santa Marta, two Colombian ports. Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic then New York will conclude this training trip in navigation techniques, but also in astronomy and maritime meteorology. Return scheduled for July 3. Their Majesties are already counting the days.
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