“We are a maritime country:” Spanish Navy commander on Armada’s first battleship in RIMPAC

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – This year’s Rim of the Pacific military exercise wrapped up with 30 nations taking part, with some sending warships for the first time.

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Spain sent its anti-missile frigate Alvaro de Bazan, led by Spanish Navy Commander Álvaro Zaragoza Ruiz, who shares the name of the warship.

“It’s 500 years of the admiral’s birth. it’s named after one of the most important admirals that we had in the Armada, in the Spanish Armada,” he said during a ship tour with Hawaii News Now. “We’re very proud of being here for the first time in RIMPAC. So it’s many anniversaries, also 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States. So everything is perfect.”

The frigate is in Hawaii as part of a deployment in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, working with other navies from across the globe.

“Tto be able to sail with so many different countries and to show our capabilities and to learn from everyone, so it’s a really great opportunity to be here,” Zaragoza added. “The ship is an anti-air frigate especially designed to protect the high valuable units. So it’s an escort, has the Aegis system. This is the first ship in Spain that actually carries the U.S. Aegis system. So that’s what makes the ship special.”

About 200 Spanish sailors have been working on air and missile defense exercises, maritime surveillance, and joint maneuvers.

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“I want them to actually feel that sailing with other countries, it’s what makes us bigger, and being here in Hawaii and having this kind of experiences is awesome,” Zaragoza added. “As a maritime country we understand that whatever happens in the Pacific has its consequences in the rest of the world. So although we are far away from home, this deployment here wants to show our capability of actually deploying abroad, being away for so long.”

Spain’s honorary consul in Hawaii Maria Mera joined the ship visit. She says while only a few hundred Spaniards live in the islands, there is a long history between two places.

“Spain was in Hawaii before even Captain Cook came. The explorers were mapping Hawaii, the islands of Hawaii. They call them the King Islands when they were going from Acapulco, which was New Spain, and now Mexico, and to the Philippines to Manila. So you could already see that these islands were already mapped,” Mera explained. “Then the most well-known figure in Spain that came to Hawaii was Francisco de Pabla Marin. He was the interpreter, trusted advisor, and physician of King Kamehameha I and then later in 1907 to 1913. There were a bunch of people from Spain, from the south of Spain, who came to work to the sugar plantations here in Hawaii. Later on because the status and the conditions didn’t really work here, they went to California, but it’s well known that 9,000 people came to Hawaii.”

“What I try to do is just build that connection between Spain and Hawaii and have Hawaiians and locals get to know Spain better and Spaniards get to know Hawaii better. That’s an honor and a privilege for me,” Mera said.

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