The Government delegate in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego, received today the Admiral Head of the Permanent Naval Group of NATO No. 1 (SNMG-1), Joaquín Ruiz Escagedo.
During the meeting, Gómez de Diego welcomed the Spanish frigate 'Almirante Juan de Borbón' and the German supply ship 'Rhoen', which will be docked in the port of Santander from Wednesday 3 to Sunday 7 July.
The delegate stressed the importance of the presence of these ships in Cantabria, which "demonstrates Spain's commitment to security and defense within the framework of NATO". In this regard, he has highlighted Spain’s commitment to Ukraine, as well as in many other parts of the world.
He also expressed his "pride" for having a Cantabrian admiral, a native of Camargo, in command of the SNMG-1, "which demonstrates the high quality of the Spanish Navy."
In addition to Gómez de Diego and Ruiz Escagedo, Santander’s naval commander, Jorge Hernández de Armijo, and the commander of the frigate ‘Almirante Juan de Borbón’ (F 102), Miguel Romero Contreras, participated in the meeting.
To them, the delegate of the Government has conveyed her personal thanks and that of the Government of Spain, “working for peace in a difficult mission at a difficult time.”
Public visit to the frigate 'Admiral Juan de Borbón'
The frigate 'Almirante Juan de Borbón', which will be docked at the Márquez Norte pier, can be visited by the public during Friday and Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm and from 4 pm to 8 pm.
'Admiral Juan de Borbón' has been operating in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, along with other ships from Germany, Norway, France and Italy, performing hyperrealistic training exercises that are combined with the monitoring of the Russian navy, as the continued presence that is essential for deterrence.
NATO naval groups are the forces that provide a permanent maritime presence to the Alliance and their operations are aimed at deterrence, collective defense, naval presence and increased interoperability between navies.