19 maart 2024

With these three themes in mind, day 2 of the Erasmus+ Respect project saw the intrepid group leave Caravaca early in the morning for the two hour drive to Cartagena, where we continued learning about the important work of the Spanish coastguard in their assistance with migrants making the 10-day journey from North Africa to Europe by sea in rudamentary boats. A number of examples were given, one of which was of a 15-year-old boy, who tried to swim the straits, desperate to start a new life and luckily was picked up by the orange saviours in the Mediterranean- the coastguard.

We were taken to the control tower for the port to see how the port is managed, regarding security of the cargo and the ships coming in, how the pilots are used to bring the ships into harbour and how the harbour area team can support the coastguard with their efforts with the refugees.

The coastguard also plays a huge role in the sustainable efforts in this stretch of the Mediterranean with them being called out to clean up oil spills or lift debris out of the water. Interesting to note was the Dutch involvement with the technology developed by Koseq and Dreggen, with the two enormous cranes and winches used for ocean clean up after an oil spill.

A city tour taking in the amphitheatre dating back to the Romans finished off yet another very warm day here in Spain.

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