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The 31st Campaing of the Spanish Army arrives at 'Gabriel Castilla' base

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Number: 6422

During the southern Summer it is developed the oldest active operation of our Armed Forces.

The Spanish Antarctic Base of the Spanish Army (BAE in Spanish) "Gabriel de Castilla" is already working. Once the unloading of material has been done, they have started all the labors which allow a proper installation under "minimum temporal" conditions to develop the tasks that brought them to the Deception Island.

Thirteen Spanish soldiers and 14 civil people from four nationalities (including the Spanish one) have arrived to their destination the early morning of Tuesday the 1st of January. Currently, Australia (2), Germany (2) and United Kingdom (1) are also represented in the BAE.


The arrival took place on board of the Oceanographic Research Vessel "Hespérides" (BIO in Spanish) of the Navy. After the usual protocol of security, that they must follow to land, they are working on preparing the Base. After the transfer of material (by boat) from the BIO to "Gabriel de Castilla", they already have electricity and water supply.

For further information   DIARIO DE OPERACIONES

Panoramic of the base "Gabriel de Castilla"

Panoramic of the base "Gabriel de Castilla". Photo: Campaña Antártica

The instruction of our soldiers is essential in order to guarantee the security of the scientists who, year by year, study in the frozen continent the natural history of this unknown territory. The reason for this preparation comes from the characteristics of this enviroment where the researchers work, being logistically supported. Deception Island, in the archipelago of the South Shetland Islands, at 100km from the North of the Antarctic Continent and at thousand of kilometers from the South American coast, is, actually, a surfaced volcano's crater, whose caldera is flooded, due to the fact that part of the crater is submerged. It is a "sleeping" (inactive) volcan, because it still has some signs of activity, such as the presence of thermal waters, and the fact that has been sporadically activated.

The Spanish Antarctic Campaing constitutes a model of cooperation among different public and private institutions serving the I+D+i in the frame of the Spanish National Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation. The coordination of the activities that the different organisms develop during the Antarctic Campaings are carried out by the Polar Authority of Spain (Comité Polar Español in Spanish).

Apart from the Spanish Army, which manages the Spanish Antarctic Base of Gabriel de Castilla at Deception Island, the operative entities participating in these activities are the Unit of Naval Technology (UTM in Spanish), from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC in Spanish), which manages "Juan Carlos I" BAE, at Livingston Island, and coordinates the general logistic of the Antarctic Campaing; and the Navy, which works in the Oceanographic Research Vessel "Hespérides".