La Herradura marked the 449th anniversary of a naval disaster in 1562, when a storm claimed between 3,000 and 5,000 lives in the bay.

Most British people, when they hear the word Armada, think of the Armada Invincible (which never bore that name, by the way) of 1588, but in terms of men and ships lost, the La Herradura disaster was equally calamitous, in that so many ships and men were lost to a storm and not to a battle.

The 28 ships had taken refuge in the bay from a severe storm, but the wind shifted with the result that 25 of the ships were wrecked against the Punta de la Mona side of the bay.

Such was the resonance of this loss that in 1604 Miguel Cervantes included the following in his world-famous novel, Don Quijote de la Mancha: “…que fue hija de Don Alonso de Marañón, caballero del Hábito de Santiago, que se ahogó en La Herradura…”

Meanwhile, back in the present day, the first councillor of the village, Juan Jose Ruiz Joya presided over the remembrance event, Secondary teacher and writer, Tomas Hernadez gave an interesting chat on the details of the shipwrecking to a gathering of pupils from CP Las Gaviotas and IES Villanueva del Mar.

After this a wreath was laid on the monument, which bears a remembrance plaque and then flowers were thrown into the sea.

(News: Herradura, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)