Pushing the boat out
Three-part miniseries La Ley del Mar (The Law of the Sea) dramatises the true story of a Spanish fishing crew who rescued a group of stranded migrants and sparked a diplomatic crisis. DQ hears about why this universal story can cross borders, and the challenges of filming at sea. When the crew of the Francisco y Catalina left the Spanish town of Santa Pola to fish in the Mediterranean Sea, they didn’t realise they would soon find themselves at the centre of a humanitarian and diplomatic standoff. Yet that’s exactly what happened in July 2006 when they came across a boat carrying 51 stranded migrants – including a young girl and a pregnant woman – in international waters. Invoking the ‘Law of the Sea,’ they determined to rescue them and take them to the Maltese capital of Valetta. But when they arrived, they were prevented from landing by local patrol ships. For nine days, the crew – led by captain José ‘Pepe’ Durá – and the migrants lived together aboard the fishing boat while Spanish and Maltese authorities, and others, sought a resolution to the crisis. Meanwhile, on shore, the families of the crew including Pepe’s wife Pepi Irles, a manager of the fishing boat company, brought the crisis to the public’s attention as the Spanish ambassador to Malta, Andrea de Velasco Lorente, led the charge to find a solution – one that would go on to change EU legislation relating to immigration. Spanish producer, comedian and screenwriter Enrique Domingo … Continue reading Pushing the boat out
