Last Friday was a special day, one of those days of the year when you feel good, with amazing people committed to the ocean’s life: European Maritime Day, which this year has been celebrated on Santa Clara Island in San Sebastian (Basque Country).
On the 20th of May, many different actors worried about the sea and its sustainability were gathered together in a Europe-wide event.
Every year we carry out some different activities at a special place in the Cantabrian Sea (Mar Cantábrico). This year, some of us have been rowing together around Santa Clara Island to send our message loud and clear: As different as we are, we all share the same goal, which is to keep our seas clean and healthy and to enjoy them.
Some others met that group by Motorboat Island services, a company that has been running these ferries since 1942, and nowadays it uses the latest generation of renewable energy.
European Maritime Day 2022 on Santa Clara island.
Our achievement with this marine event is to promote the defense and protection of the marine environment. Meanwhile, we minimize the impact of rubbish and we promote the conservation of marine life by raising awareness and disseminating information to society. And we want to focus on our children, who are the main actors of these events every year with their teachers.
The sea is a way of life for all of us who participate edition after edition. This is the reason we have gathered on this day on the beloved island of San Sebastian for the European Maritime Day, because we want to contribute to the «ocean education» and awareness from a European view, in a fun and creative way to reach all the people who live near or far from the sea, as a beautiful, necessary and vital gift that the planet gives it to us.
Let’s make Europe blue!
We want our seas blue, healthy, with plenty of life.
Like every year we want to remember all those families who are part of it. The children have been painting and writing on a 40-meter sheet of paper. This work of art was exhibited at the ABABOR nautical fair at Ficoba the last April and later finished by the students of Egiluze Hondarribia Ikastetxea, who have been working on it for more than a month to reinforce our message.
The flipchart is on display at the Euskal Itsas Museoa (in Donostia´s Harbor) from 20 May until 24 May and will then be sent to Brussels with our printed messages to work with our neighboring countries in the same way.
Every actor made a mark on the flipchart last Friday at the Museum event and later we set sail to the island. We are: San Sebastian Aquarium, Sea Museum, Mater Museum, Albaola, Navegavela, Motoras de la Isla, Azti, RCTSS, Conservas Olasagasti, Mala Gissona and San Sebastian Kofradia.
Meanwhile, another group of people set off in kayaks from the Tennis Club and go around Santa Clara island.
Both groups met on the island, which is an icon of the city for its historical, cultural and environmental reasons.
Olasagasti celebrates the European Maritime Day
From here, we would like to thank all the participants who can now be considered friends. I really like the atmosphere I felt, the shared philosophy of life, and the personal commitment of all participants. We discuss the way we consume, about improvements in our life to make it more ecological; We share hobbies, food and drinks, and, above all, an unquestionable and dedicated love for the sea.
The whole group is aware that we live in a privileged environment, the sea offers us priceless enjoyment and we assume we have to give it back in two ways: by committing ourselves to keep it clean and alive, and by spreading the importance of our small daily gestures.
It goes without saying that it belongs to everyone. We know you are part of this project from the moment you place your trust in Olasagasti and you share with us the way of understanding life at the bottom of the sea, on the surface, and from the coast till inland.
About the #EuropeanMaritimeDay
It is celebrated every year in every part of Europe and aims to give visibility to the sea and spread the importance of taking care of it among the European citizens. To this end, different events focusing on maritime activities are organized across Europe.
The European Maritime Day was established jointly by the European Council, the European Parliament, and the European Commission in 2008 as an integral part of the EU’s maritime policy. Its main goal is to raise awareness of the importance of our seas and to take good care of them.
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