In statements to EFEsaid he felt at home, with family, on a journey that took him through Ibero-American countries and other additional points to the route followed by sailors more than half a millennium ago.
“We are checking what is our common root, Spain and Mexicowe are united, with that root so powerful, so strong, so true, that we are in a family”, he commented.
Álvaro de Marichalar Sáenz de Tejada began his journey in 2019 but the coronavirus forced him to make a two-year stop, time he dedicated to giving lectures in various countries.
“I’ve lost two years, but in life when you have a project, you have to keep going no matter what it takes. I have about 20-22 more months to go because the world is big and I am only 22 percent of the way there,” he revealed.
Álvaro de Marichalar’s trip around the world also seeks to raise awareness about illegal fishing and plastic pollution. He will take advantage of his stay in Cancun to present an initiative that seeks to collect sargassum on the high seas in order to “harvest” it.
“They are annoying when they reach the coasts but they are a source of resources to make cosmetics., animal feed, human food, fertilizer; for that you have to harvest them alive and not wait for them to reach the sand and remove the sand, because removing them by removing the sand is a mistake, ”he explained.
The navigator assured that history must point the way to the future because without it nothing is understood.
“Juan Sebastián Elcano, Ferdinand Magellan and the heroes who circumnavigated the world for the first time are a reference today as they were 500 years ago and will be in 500 years. They were people of value, the best of Spain. That is where globalization began, international trade, international relations and that is the heritage of the Spanish and Latin Americans”, he concluded.