The "New World" wasn't just a destination in the 16 th & 17 th Centuries. And, being married to a European, I am quite aware the "America" is not only "North" but "South." For countless hundreds of thousands, the great age of immigration did not end in the early 20 th century. For many looking for a new start in The Americas, the wave was constant and aimed at shores caressed by the South, not North Atlantic.
One such person looking for better times and a way to help his family was Ramon Casuso, grandfather of Alfredo Casuso-Alos: our webmaster and partner in lectures. Ramon left a Spain devastated by the Civil War to make a new life in Venezuela. Eventually, his wife and family would join him. The vessel of his hopes, the classic Spanish liner Marqués de Comillas. A classic along the waterfronts of Gijón and Santander, the Marqués de Comillas was the standard bearer for a generation of Spanish ocean liners, trumpeted on posters and in heralds. Luxurious without being ostentatious, she was a proud and long-serving container of many a Mediterranean dream. In 1961, at the end of a long voyage, she caught fire and burned in Barcelona harbor. Now, there is nothing left. But, because of her, Alfredo is here, and I with him. Because of her years of service, many a family continues the Transatlantic tradition.
