Family who lost loved ones on Spanish fishing vessel help unveil new N.L. monument

A new monument honouring 21 lives lost on a Spanish fishing boat that sank off the coast of Newfoundland in 2022 was unveiled in St. John's on Friday by a Spanish delegation that included family of the deceased.

The 50-metre-long fishing boat, called the Villa de Pitanxo, operated out of northwest Spain's Galicia province. It sank at around 2:30 a.m. NT on Feb. 15, 2022.

The crew was made up of 16 Spaniards, five Peruvians and at least three Ghanaians, and is the largest fishing disaster in Galicia in the last 50 years.

Nine bodies were recovered from the water and repatriated to Spain, but the remaining 12 were never found.

"The memorial is very important for the families. and all people from the sea. Fishermen, our families of the sea," said María José de Pazo Friday. She lost her father, Francisco.

"The [feeling] is connection with them, here, [in] San Juan, Terranova. St. John's."

Alfredo Martinez, Spain's ambassador to Canada, was also part of the delegation. He said most of the group comprised of mothers, siblings, and children of the deceased.

"They were all good people, devoted to their work and the livelihoods of their families whose legacies are real and vibrant examples of selflessness, sacrifice and commitment," he said.

Martinez commended the Newfoundland and Labrador government for their compassion and work to repatriate the recovered bodies in 2022.

He told those who had gathered for the unveiling that the province is not unlike the Galicia province, a tight-knit community with hundreds of years of fishing history.

"That's how Newfoundlanders are, and how they were in those days," Martinez said.

WATCH | The Spanish delegation was part of the monument's unveiling:

Families of lost Spanish sailors come to St. John’s to say a final goodbye

4 months ago

Duration 2:29

More than a dozen family members of the crew of the Villa de Pitanxo journeyed from Spain to St. John’s this week to honour their lost loved ones. The Spanish fishing vessel capsized off the Grand Banks in 2022, killing 21 people — the largest loss of life at sea off Newfoundland in more than two decades. At a ceremony, the Spanish ambassador thanked the province for its help in the search.

"They carried out their work and devoted their best efforts. We can never thank them enough...Today, the hospitality and openness of Newfoundlanders are once again on full display in all their intensity."

The Spanish government completed an investigation into the tragedy in June 2023.

Alberto Mancebo, a journalist with Spanish broadcaster Televisión de Galicia who travelled with the delegation, said investigators found the tragedy was caused by human error, and that the ship's captain could be convicted of manslaughter.

"The reckless part of it is what they need to now get to the conclusion [of] in trial," he said. "People are talking about this still, because the families are still struggling."

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