Spanish tall ship New Orleans visit included history, education, more

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — You may have seen the Spanish Naval Training Ship docked on the river over the past few days, but its presence was more than just a beautiful ship on the water.

“I’m here as the 4th Governor of Louisiana, who defeated the British during the American Revolution. Tomorrow, on campus, I will present to them more details with visuals and a lot more information on our Spanish Heritage, but today I was simply the general turning them over to my admiral,” said Robert Freeland, a volunteer with the Louisiana State Museum.

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Freeland plays General Bernardo de Galvez led a field trip of students from the International School aboard the historic John Sebastián de Elcano.

“We run the Spanish Heritage field trip program for Spanish classes. What we try to do is make it fun for a Louisiana kid learning Spanish, utilizing what we have about our Spanish still present in 2024 New Orleans,” said Freeland.

The kids appeared to have a great time as present in our city this week is the historic tall ship.

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“It’s 96 years old, 300 feet long, and it’s a sailing boat, which makes it so amazing,” said Claudia Shabatai, of Granaderos y Damas de Galvez. Their mission is to promote Spain’s importance to the formation of our country.

The organization has hosted the tall ship and its 250 crew of the Spanish Navy’s visit.

Shabatai bore witness to the majesty and priceless details aboard the vessel, “In the front, you have a sculpture that’s a work of art. It’s called Minerva. Minerva, the Goddess of the Seas.”

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