The Fuengirola House of Culture will host the conference ‘Memory of the shipwrecks on the coasts of the province of Malaga’
It will be given by Fernando García Echegoyen on Wednesday, November 5, at 8:00 p.m., with free admission until capacity is reached.
10/31/2025 – The Manuel Delgado Perea House of Culture in Fuengirola will host next Wednesday, November 5, starting at 8:00 p.m., the conference ‘Memory of the shipwrecks on the coasts of the province of Málaga’, by Manuel García Echegoyen. This was announced this morning by the Councilor for Culture, Rodrigo Romero, who indicated that admission will be free until capacity is reached.
“On the 5th we have a very interesting conference at the House of Culture that Fernando García Echegoyen will give,” said Romero, highlighting that “Fernando is part of the Fuengirola Miniatures association and is a regular at our miniatures contest. Furthermore, like many members of this association, he is a great specialist in historical matters and, in his case, he has specialized in two main issues: the Titanic, about which he already gave a very successful conference for the anniversary of its sinking; and the other topic “They are shipwrecks in general, because he has completed a nautical degree at the University of Cádiz and is a maritime damage commissioner and nautical expert. He is also a great communicator and, in this case, he is going to talk to us about the shipwrecks on the coasts of our province during the last four centuries.”
Regarding the theme of the conference, Romero explained that “it will mainly focus on the shipwrecks that have occurred off our coast, in the coastal stretch between Fuengirola and Mijas. And you cannot get an idea of all the history behind it, the large number of shipwrecks that have been recorded and the large number of sunken wrecks just a few meters from where we are bathing peacefully on the beach.”
About Fernando Jose Garcia Echegoyen
He was born in Zaragoza in 1962 although he has lived in various parts of Andalusia throughout his life. He studied Nautical Studies at the University of Cádiz, specializing in the field of maritime accident investigation at the Institute of Higher Insurance Studies. Since 1992 he has worked as a Maritime Damages Commissioner and nautical expert.
Since 1992 he has directed the Valbanera Project, a cultural initiative that, supported by various cultural institutions and organizations, aims to recover for museum purposes part of the remains of the Spanish ocean liner Valbanera that sank in 1919 in the Caribbean, killing all 500 people on board in the accident. He has led three expeditions to investigate the remains of said ship and in the first of which, carried out in 1992, he managed to film and photograph the remains of said ship for the first time since its sinking in 1919.
Apart from the investigation into the Valbanera shipwreck, he has participated in the investigation and reconstruction of a multitude of historical accidents. The results of his research have been reflected in the seven books that he has published so far: Shipwreck, Chronicles of the Sea and Death (1992), History, Myths and Legends of Shipwrecks on the Spanish Coasts (1995), The Mystery of the Valbanera (1997), The Great Spanish Shipwrecks (1998) and in digital edition the book Titanic. Stories after a shipwreck. (2012). Return to the Valbanera (2022) Shipwrecks on the Coasts of the Province of Málaga (2023).
In 1995 he also carried out exhaustive field work on shipwrecks on the coasts of the province of Malaga, which was initially published in the form of a nautical chart, reflecting the main shipwrecks that occurred in those waters.
He is a member of various maritime organizations and has collaborated with various institutions and media in advisory work, maritime documentation and underwater archaeology. He has published numerous articles on casualties and geographical maritime history of Andalusia.
He is a regular contributor to the television program Cuarto Milenio by journalist Iker Jiménez.