Balearic Islands to host more than 500 NATO military personnel and ships

From the 29th of April to the 9th of May, the Balearic waters will host the advanced multinational exercise 'ESP MINEX-24', in which surface ships, a Navy helicopter and more than 500 military personnel, mainly from Spain, Belgium, the United States and Romania, will take part.

ESP MINEX-24 is an advanced multinational mine warfare exercise organized and led by the Navy on an annual basis, according to the Ministry of Defence in a statement.

Between the 25th and 26th of April, all the group's participating ships will arrive at the Mahón Naval Station to prepare for the exercise. On the 26th, the traditional lowering of the flag will take place on the flagship 'Relámpago'.

During the weekend there will be open days for the public on different Navy ships.

After the first week of exercises, the grouping is scheduled to call at the Porto Pi Naval Station in Palma from the 3rd to the 5th of May, and finally from the 9th to the 10th of May, when some of the Spanish ships will take part in the commemorative event for the '50th Anniversary of the Balearic Islands Naval Sector'.

The participating multinational naval force will also include NATO's Standing NATO Mine Action Group in the Mediterranean (SNMCMG-2) and the European Maritime Force (Euromarfor).

Command will be exercised by the commander of the Navy's Counter Mine Action Force (COMTEMECOM), embarked with his deployable staff aboard the maritime action ship 'Relámpago'.

According to the defense memo, the naval force has sophisticated submarine detection systems on board and specialized mine warfare divers, as well as state-of-the-art autonomous underwater robots that complement the minehunters' capabilities.