The ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ celebrates the 500th Anniversary of the exploration of Florida by Juan Ponce de León.

The training ship ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ that arrived at Miami on May 1st, has departed this US city after participating in the festivities to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the exploration of Florida by Juan Ponce de León.

During the morning of May 3rd the training ship hosted a corporate meeting of the ‘Leading Brands of Spain Forum’. In the afternoon the same Forum organized an awards ceremony of the ‘Friend of the Spain Brand’. The meeting was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation José Manuel García-Margallo.

The ship also celebrated a pledge of allegiance to the Flag by those Spanish citizens living in the United States who requesting such honor. The ceremony was attended by the Spanish Ambassador in the USA.

This is the 11th time the training ship visits the city of Miami; the last port-call took place in 2008.

Since the beginning of this 84th Training Cruise, the ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ has visited the following ports: Las Palmas (Canary Islands), San Juan (Puerto Rico) and Balboa (Panama). Up to now, the ship has sailed around 7,000 nautical miles with 54 days at sea.

After Cape Canaveral, the training ship will visit Newport and subsequently Den Helder (Holland) to attend the 525th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Netherlands Navy. On her way home, the ‘Juan Sebastián de Elcano’ will visit the Spanish cities of Santander and Avilés. She is scheduled to arrive at the Naval Academy in Marín on July 13th.