Santísima Trinidad Battleship Replica, Alicante

The battleship, named the Holy Trinity, or Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad in Spanish, was launched in 1796 and remained the largest ship in the world until its demise. I will not retell its story, there is a lot of information about it, I will only remind you that the ship participated in the Battle of Trafalgar, surrendered to the British and sank while being towed to England. The sailboat that now stands in Alicante repeats the legendary ship only externally. In some places, it is claimed that the Santisima Trinidad was built for filming, but there is no information about films featuring this ship. In fact, this floating structure was conceived as an entertainment complex. In 2006, an old merchant ship in Galicia received fake sides and a deck, and masts were installed on it.

Then the ship was towed to Algeciras, where the bow and stern superstructures were built with the appropriate design, rigging was installed, and interior spaces were equipped. Some of the interior spaces repeat the interiors and equipment of a real ship, wax figures represent the members of its crew. Here you can see the battery deck with gunners, the galley, the officers' and captain's cabins, and the mess hall. There is a restaurant and several bars on board, a disco hall, and an exhibition hall. Their interiors are decorated in the style of the 18th century.

The floating mock-up of the warship was transported to Malaga, where it was used for its intended purpose until 2011. But the project turned out to be unprofitable - at first the attendance was high, but the novelty and originality factor did not last long for the local public, and then the economic crisis undermined the tourist flow. Therefore, it was decided to send a floating pub to Ibiza, where there are never any problems with the clientele of such establishments.

Meanwhile, the owners transferred him to Alicante for a couple of years, hoping for a temporary effect that unexpectedly exceeded all expectations. I took these pictures in January 2014, when the sailboat was standing in the very center, on Paseo Puerto, next to the casino and the Melia Hotel. The entrance ticket cost 5 euros. For groups of 20 or more, 45-minute guided tours were offered, followed by another half-hour wine tasting in one of the bars.

Four years later, I visited Alicante again, but I did not find the ship in its old place. Walking along the pier, I found him at one of the piers in the industrial part of the port. It turns out that in May 2017, he was removed from the center after numerous complaints from the owners of the Meliá hotel, as the noise from the disco disturbed the guests. In addition, problems began with the hull, and the port's supervisory authorities banned its use for public purposes.

Despite the hoteliers' complaints, the port agreed to extend the lease of the parking lot, but on condition that the ship is repaired in dry dock. It is still unknown what the future fate of this undoubtedly interesting object will be. I think he has a chance - now the Spanish coast is just bursting with tourists.