When Spaniards sailed a junk boat from Hong Kong to Barcelona – a trip that would take 8 months
- In 1959, a Spanish crew hoping to follow the example of mariners during the days of ancient China set sail in a junk boat from Hong Kong to Barcelona
- Thousands of supporters cheered their arrival nearly eight months later. They become the first people to sail a Chinese junk into the Mediterranean
“Six Spaniards who plan to sail a Hongkong junk back to Barcelona on Christmas Day arrived here by Air France from Paris yesterday. The leader is Jose Maria Tey, 39-year-old Barcelona merchant,” reported the South China Morning Post on December 8, 1958.
“Others are Joachim del Molino, 28, industrial engineer; Oriol Regas, 23, student; Luis Maynard, 39, former aviator, soldier and diplomat; Jose de Luis Madoz, 30, industrial photographer, and Mauricio Cuesta, 30, industrialist.
“A seventh member of the party, Jose Gonzales, has already arrived and has bought the three-masted, 60-ton junk for the 11,000-mile journey back to Spain […]
“Senor Tey said their voyage back home was a sporting one. By sailing all the way to the Mediterranean they hoped to follow the example of old mariners during the days of ancient China.
“He said that he was a captain in the Spanish merchant navy and always took a keen interest in sailing, more so in the nature of sport and recreational voyages.