The nuclear incident in Palomares - General Palomares discussion - Palomares forum - Costa de Almería forum in the Almeria province of Spain
Have Tools Will Travel
Mini Digger Almera
UK DIRECT REMOVALS
ASSSA Insurance
Grupo Platinum Estates

Join the Palomares forum

Join the Palomares forumMy name's Alex and this is my website all about Palomares in Spain. Register now for free to talk about General Palomares discussion and much more!

The nuclear incident in Palomares

Posted: Mon May 6, 2019 6:43am
20 replies912 views9 members subscribed
Biggles172

Biggles172

Helpful member

Posts: 447

212 helpful points

Location: Palomares

Joined: 7 Apr 2019

As a pilot are regular visitor to the Madrid area I thought people might be interested in seeing this which is at the aircraft museum at Cuatro Vientos.It commemorates the mid air collision that occurred over the village in 1966.I have thought that there should be a memorial to the 7 brave aircrew that died that day,but there doesn't seem to be any.Maybe we should band together and erect something.The last time I tried to do that there was an apathetic response... 

chevyrecycler34

Posted: Tue May 7, 2019 9:27pm

chevyrecycler34

Helpful member

Posts: 759

410 helpful points

Location: Huércal-Overa

Joined: 10 Feb 2017

Posted: Tue May 7, 2019 9:27pm

Apathetic response comes from simple words, " nuclear incident", no matter how long ago there are still pockets that are problematic, ie radio active and no go areas, no amount of campaigning will get much of a response sadly.

Rob20B

Posted: Tue May 7, 2019 11:19pm

Rob20B

Helpful member

Posts: 604

462 helpful points

Location: Los Gallardos

Joined: 12 Aug 2016

Posted: Tue May 7, 2019 11:19pm

I think part of the problem is that although Cuevas town hall raise the problem regularly to try to get the US to remove the remaining small amount (2 square metres?) of contaminated soil, most residents just wish it would all go away. We have commercial vegetable and fruit growers close to the village centre which wouldn't be allowed if there was any health risk, there have been no reports of high radiation levels amongst those checked and as far as I can tell no-one really wants the issue raised any more.

Rob
Los Gallardos/Palomares

Biggles172

Posted: Tue May 7, 2019 11:44pm

Biggles172

Original Poster

Helpful member

Posts: 447

212 helpful points

Location: Palomares

Joined: 7 Apr 2019

Posted: Tue May 7, 2019 11:44pm

How cares about the brave 7 USAF aircrew who died that day to keep the freedom we all can all enjoy today? Making money seems to be so much more important now.How many illegal immigrants are working in the fields with the authorities turning a blind eye to it all..  I suspect the majority?

Rob20B

Posted: Tue May 7, 2019 11:57pm

Rob20B

Helpful member

Posts: 604

462 helpful points

Location: Los Gallardos

Joined: 12 Aug 2016

Posted: Tue May 7, 2019 11:57pm

I agree that the aircrew who died should be commemorated and a memorial in the village would be a good thing.

Rob
Los Gallardos/Palomares

Advertisement - posts continue below

Biggles172

Posted: Wed May 8, 2019 4:36am

Biggles172

Original Poster

Helpful member

Posts: 447

212 helpful points

Location: Palomares

Joined: 7 Apr 2019

Posted: Wed May 8, 2019 4:36am

Have tried to organise it but everyone seems apathetic to this.Seem more interested in eating tapas and drinking cervezas....

DarioMartin

Posted: Wed May 8, 2019 6:12am

DarioMartin

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 5339

6308 helpful points

Location: Vera

Joined: 16 Aug 2017

Posted: Wed May 8, 2019 6:12am

Biggles172 wrote on Wed May 8, 2019 4:36am:

Have tried to organise it but everyone seems apathetic to this.Seem more interested in eating tapas and drinking cervezas....

Whilst indeed the aircrew were defending the free world etc etc, as Rob points out, most people wish it would just all quietly go away.  You also have to take into account that American aircraft carrying nuclear weapons crashed over foreign soil.  This is not something that will sit well with the Spanish; they have long memories for such events and a plaque commemorating American aircrew who died on Spanish soil ... and in doing so polluted Spanish soil for years to come ... might be seen as a reminder of a past they’d prefer to forget; they were the Franco years as well.

Just a thought. 

Un saludo, Darío

Biggles172

Posted: Wed May 8, 2019 7:59am

Biggles172

Original Poster

Helpful member

Posts: 447

212 helpful points

Location: Palomares

Joined: 7 Apr 2019

Posted: Wed May 8, 2019 7:59am

The families of the 7 who died are never going to forget 1966 and I would think it be a nice gesture to commemorate their ultimate sacrifice to make the world relatively free for everyone. Spain still is protected by the USAF/NATO etc at airbases like Rota....

DarioMartin

Posted: Wed May 8, 2019 8:42am

DarioMartin

Legendary helpful member

Posts: 5339

6308 helpful points

Location: Vera

Joined: 16 Aug 2017

Posted: Wed May 8, 2019 8:42am

I don’t dispute that - but please remember that perhaps the citizens of this country have a slightly different outlook on events.  They may feel that a foreign power was in their airspace and crashed, causing ecological damage to their country (which by the grace only of god was limited to only that that occurred) and said foreign power has been somewhat recalcitrant about cleaning up the mess that they caused. 

No, the families of the 7 aircrew will never forget.  Nor will the families of numerous Guardia Civil who gave their lives to assasination by ETA .... but again, there is no memorial to them either.

So the question you must ask, is why will Spanish citizens memorialize an event caused wholly by a foreign power, when the aftermath still lingers?

The other challenge is that following comments by the “leader of the free world”, America is not really flavor of the month ...

Biggles172

Posted: Wed May 8, 2019 11:54am

Biggles172

Original Poster

Helpful member

Posts: 447

212 helpful points

Location: Palomares

Joined: 7 Apr 2019

Posted: Wed May 8, 2019 11:54am

I was not expecting just the Spanish people to contribute to a suitable memorial but all nationalities who either live here like I do or visit on a regular basis to this area. ..

Sign up for free or login to reply to this topic

Want to reply to this topic? Login or register for free to post your message:

Find more General discussion topics from a particular area:


Register for free!

Login to your account

Have Tools Will Travel
Mini Digger Almera
UK DIRECT REMOVALS
ASSSA Insurance
Grupo Platinum Estates
Advertise your business here
Advertise your property
Help with my computer