A group of Lebanese led by the 12th Brigade visits Spain

The Chief of Staff of the Spanish Army receives a souvenir from Lebanon (Photo:Iván Jiménez/DECET)

The group visits the Buenavista Palace

A group of Lebanese visits Spain led by the 12th Brigade

A group of fifteen young Lebanese, invited by the 12th Brigade “Guadarrama” is visiting Spain. This group went over the Spanish Army HQ: The Buenavista Palace, its noble area and gardens. On July 28, the group was welcomed by the Chief of Staff of the Spanish Army (JEME in Spanish), Army General, Jaime Dominguez Buj.

This stop at the Palace had been included within the Visits’ Program along with other stops such as Aranjuez, El Escorial, Segovia, Asturias or Cuenca. It is in Cuenca, precisely, where traditional Lebanese cuisine was prepared and shared with the main authorities of the city.

Today, the group will repeat the cooking experience in the kitchen of “Café de Oriente.” It is in this place where the 12th Brigade implemented a cooperative training for military cooks called: “Sancho Panza.”

Peaceful Vacation

The stay in Spain of these Lebanese residents in Kleyaa, where they are part of the town choir, responds to the invitation from the Chief Brigade, General Conde de Arjena. The Chief Brigade has himself been several times deployed to the South area of Lebanon, within the UN-led mission. His last deployment, 2015, as contingent Commander.

It is not the first time that a group of Lebanese visits Spain invited by a Spanish General. The first time was in 2009, invited by General Asarta who was also the Chief of the 12th Brigade. Later, in 2011, the 11th Brigade chief, General Dìaz de Otazu, followed suit.

Joceline, who has been lucky to be in all of the 3 stays, finds it hard to choose what’s the best she has liked of Spain. Besides the visits, she values her practicing Spanish, a language she masters thanks to her attendance to the “Cervantes’s program.”  For Rihame, it is the her first time in Spain. She understands some Spanish although she does not speak it. When asked if she likes Spain she is clear: ''Very much.'' 

With this initiative, young Lebanese will have the possibility to get to know the country from where the Blue Helmets with whom they socialize daily and with whom they participate in the ''Cervantes'' Program to learn Spanish. At the same time, they can spend some days distanced from the conflicts in their country.