Despite various levels of lockdown the Royal British Legion was able to commemorate Armistice Day locally in both Orihuela Costa and Torrevieja.
In Pilar de la Horadada the Orihuela Costa and District event was held outdoors, beside the RBL Garden of Remembrance, with the authorities having previously decided that social distancing inside the tiny Capilla de las Mil Palmeras was not possible.
As such it was very much a scaled down service with just a dozen or so participants led by the mayor of Pilar de la Horadada, José María Pérez Sánchez, who read the Exhortation and Kohima in Spanish.
Assistant chaplain Stephen Treseder opened the event “To the memory of the fallen and the future of the living” with a short prayer after which, following the last post, silence and reveille sounded by Alwyn Pollendine, wreaths were laid while Piper John Wilson played a lament.
Just along the road in Torrevieja the local council authorised a much grander affair which was held at the Parroquia de la Inmaculada Concepción church in Ramon Galud.
The event was attended by Mayor Eduardo Dolón, the Chairman of Spain District North, Don Cubbon, and approximately 100 dignitaries and guests.
The service, led by Father Richard Seabrook, got underway as the standards were marched into the church to the sound of the pipes.
The music for the hymns was provided by a clarinet quartet from the Royal British Legion Band.
Following the service many of the congregation then moved to the cenotaph in La Siesta where wreathes and poppy crosses were laid in memory of the fallen.
Main img courtesy Objectivo Torrevieja
