
The building of the Club de Mar de Villagarcía is half a century old
The building of the Club de Mar de Villagarcía is half a century old

The early local of the Club de Mar is currently owned by the Harbour Authority and used by the Liceo- Casino in precarious, it was only used to the point that for almost a year is closed and without any activity in the same
On January 6, 2017, 50 years of the opening in 1967 of the Club de Mar building located at the head of the Pier de Pasajeros de Vilagarcía de Aroua. The Club de Mar de Vilagarcía was founded on 7 June 1951 with seven founding partners: Guillermo Poyán Vega, Carlos Comendador Peña, Jesús Diéguez Patiño, Julio García Soto, Luis Cordal Carus, Rogelio Otero Posse and Ramiro Caamaño García. The club did not have its own seat, occupying a flat on King Daviña Street, which operated as the secretariat of the Club and of races. After the resolution of the rent in 1961, efforts to get a social place are resumed.
In 1959 the Club de Mar was granted the "Our Lady of Carmen Award 1959" by a Board of Directors of the Ministry of the Navy in response to the work carried out in the previous year, especially in the field of sailing. The news caused great joy in the city as it was then a very prestigious prize with 50,000 pesetas (300,51 euros). The award was greatly influenced by the dossier of activities by Tista Pereira and Julián Lumas. This economic injection together with a grant granted by the National Sports Delegation as well as the contribution of a group of 25 partners the entity allowed, seven and a half years later, to build the premises. However, the crude winter 1965-1966 caused the work to be paralyzed for several months until the arrival of good weather in early March 1966 made it possible to reboot. However, several avatars prevented the directive's desire to open the premises in the summer of 1966 from being fulfilled until 6 January 1967 when the event took place. The directive led by Guillermo Poyán Vega was all Christmas giving the last touches to the headquarters while the media highlighted that "the large living room, completely surrounded by windows, is a permanent balcony open to the contemplation of the beauties of the Ria, as if we were on a boat that was anchored in the middle of the Arosan waters". It was also announced that Admiral Pedro Nieto Antúnez, then Minister of Marina, had accepted the position of "Comodoro de Honor" of the Club.
The solemn opening of the building took place on the afternoon of 6 January 1967, Reyes day, with a large number of guests and partners attending it. The event was chaired by the Provincial Delegate of Information and Tourism, Antonio Puig Gaite; the Deputy Delegate, José Antonio Campos Borrego; the Mayor Victoriano Piñeiro Acosta; the Marine Commander, Antonio Rodriez-Touges and Vázquez; heads and officers of the Marin Military Naval School; councillors and other local authorities. The Spanish TV cameras were present at the event and a report on the event was issued in the following days. The parish priest Francisco Chantada Carro proceeded to the external blessing of the building, then cutting a tape with national colors. After being blessed the interior was read by Vice President Julio García Soto to various letters and telegrams. President Guillermo Poyán Vega then intervened by closing the event by Mayor Victoriano Piñeiro Acosta with "a very eloquent word." This eloquence of the highest local regator led him to quote a verse from one of the poets proscribed by Franco's regime, Don Antonio Machado, "walking there is no way, making way to walk," then musicada by Juan Manuel Serrat. The building had a huge use for three decades. But in 1998 a very controversial decision of the Harbour Authority to prevent the access of vehicles to the Passenger's Pier motivated the partners to stop coming to it. In June 2001, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Club de Mar, the social mass of the entity decided to join the Liceo-Casino, companies that had also recently merged, which became official on 5 August 2001.
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