Spanish Prince in Lobster Boat
ESCAPE FROM AFRICAN PENAL SETTLEMENT Prince Alfonso de Bourbon, a cousin of ex-King Alfonso of Spain, was among the 29 Spanish officers and grandees who escaped from the penal settlement at Villa Cisneros (North-West-Africa). The men, who were imprisoned because of their participation in the Monarchist uprising last year, were landed on the Portuguese coast from a 100-ton lobster boat.
Fishermen who accosted the group of ragged, unshaven foreigners on the beach were amazed to discover that they -were high-born Spaniards. Prince Alfonso said that they were taken to Villa Cisneros in a filthy cattle boat, and treated like beasts or slaves. Hearing that the same boat was coming to take them back to Madrid for trial, they resolved to escape from a degrading prison.
Eluding the guards at night, they stumbled across miles of band until they were taken aboard the rescue boat.
On the voyage they suffered severely from cold and thirst, and for three days they drifted with the engine disabled. Four merchantmen were sighted, but the escapees were afraid to signal them.
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Bibliographic details
Manawatu Times, Volume LVI, Issue 7068, 30 January 1933, Page 3
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181Spanish Prince in Lobster Boat Manawatu Times, Volume LVI, Issue 7068, 30 January 1933, Page 3
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