Full sail ahead into Palma

The flag ship of the Spanish navy, the cadet training ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano emerged out of the mist and sailed in to the port of Palma early yesterday morning. Celebrating her 75th anniversary, the topsail schooner, will this year be touring Spain in order to share her milestone in nautical history with the general public. Moored in the Dique del Oeste, she will be open to the public until Sunday, when she departs for Ibiza. The Elcano which set sail from her home port of Cadiz on March 5 was open yesterday and will be open again on Saturday from 11am to 1pm and in the afternoon from 4pm to 8.45pm. On Sunday she will be taking 60 Majorcan school children on board for a commemorative cruise. For the Elcano's Spanish tour she has a crew of 200 professionals on board, of whom 24 are female and she will not return home to Cadiz until August 20. On Sunday she will set sail for Ibiza, then on to Ciutadella and her final port of call in the Balearics will be in Mahon where she will spend three days arriving on May 9. Since she was launched on August 17, 1928, the Elcano has covered 1.5 million miles and visited 125 ports in 53 countries. She has undergone three refits and her commander, captain Manuel Rebollo, said yesterday that she will sail for another 25 years. The flag ship, which has become an ambassador for Spain, will also be visiting the ports of Vigo, Villagarcía, Saint Malo (France), Almería, Alicante, Marín and finally Cádiz. This is her seventh visit to Palma, she was welcomed by Balearic President Fransesc Antich who went aboard yesterday morning.