Spanish Journey Part Two
8. From Cadiz to Puerto Santa Maria

Narrator
There is a ferry service that does a regular run from Cadiz to Puerto Santa Maria. The captains, Juan and Pepe, have been in charge of the service for nearly 70 years non-stop.

Inka Martí
This sea is alive, we’re rolling from one side to the other.

Juan 
The Cantabrian Sea and the Atlantic are living seas, of course. However, the Mediterranean is far calmer, more peaceful.

Inka Martí
How long have you been at the wheel of El Vaporito [the little steamer]? When did you come here?

Juan 
In 1929, the year of the Seville World Fair.

Inka Martí
And the first boat you had, the Adriano I - because this is the Adriano III - was it very different to the one we see today?

Juan 
Yes, it was flat, flat-bottomed. It didn't have any draught, as the place we're going to was pretty shallow. We used to have to leave with the tide, we couldn't run a timetable.

Inka Martí
So you depended on the tide to leave?

Juan 
That's right.

Inka Martí
And with Adriano III you now have a timetable. You say “We are leaving at such and such a time…”

Juan 
Yes, because there is a channel now, it has been dredged, so of course we can leave at a set time.

Inka Martí
Have you always done the same route, from Cadiz to Puerto Santa María and Puerto to Cadiz?

Juan
Always, always.

Inka Martí
What did you used to transport in the old days?

Juan
In those days we used to carry wine to be shipped here to Cadiz. We also carried fruit, things like that.

Inka Martí
And people used to move around on the little steamboat as well.

Juan
Yes, of course, there was no other means. There was only one train a day, which wasn't enough to carry the goods.

Inka Martí
Did you prefer navigating more in the old days?

Juan
Before, it was a different kind of incentive, not like today. Today we mostly get tourists we don’t know. Before they were punters you knew personally.

Inka Martí
Thanks, Juan.

Juan
It was my pleasure.

[music]