The goodwill invasion of Spain is over and the Portuguese neighbour was conquered by the caravel ‘Boa Esperança’ which already is safely anchored back in the Algarve.
The ship sailed this sumer from Lagos to various ports in Andalusia on a promotional campaign that promoted the best of the Algarve to Spanish council luminaries, local businesses, the Spanish public and foreigners on holiday in Spain.
More than 7,700 people went aboard between June and August during a promotional tour that was dreamed up and executed with military precision by Tourism of the Algarve.
While in Spain the ship’s crew promoted the Algarve and entertained school children, their teachers and the general public explaining the rich historical and cultural heritage of the Algarve and its role in the Age of Discovery. The Boa Esperança is a replica of one of the C16th ships and attracted 7,775 people, most of them of Spanish (48%), British (27% ) and French (11%).
"The result of this initiative is really positive. The name of the Algarve was taken to the Spanish and also to tourists on vacation in Andalusia, a region with 8.4 million inhabitants.
The president of the tourist board, Desidério Silva, commented that his team are still trying to tot up the thousands that may not have boarded the ship, but none-the-less gathered at the five ports where the ship was moored. He estimates an additional 30,000 people saw and appreciated the ship and understood the reason it was there.
The maritime expedition began in June as the ship sailed from Lagos to Seville, then on to Cadiz, Malaga and Almeria, covering about a thousand nautical miles.
The initiative was organised by the tourist board with the support of the Fundación Nao Victoria and came under the remit of the Descubriter project which promotes the Algarve and Andalucia as a tourist route bound together by culture, history and the heritage of the two regions from which the first vessels set sail during the Age of Discovery.
