Bull v Lion: allegiances and new alliances form backdrop to warships bid

Ferrol, Spain, 5 November 2017

Few Australians would have heard of Ferrol, a tiny shipbuilding town in Spain’s north-west. Fewer still would have visited. But it is at the Bay of Ferrol in Galicia, crowned with iconic shipyard cranes, where the Australian-Spanish alliance intersects – where the Armada meets Adelaide.

Ferrol has been the Spanish Navy’s capital for centuries. Now it is the home of Navantia – the Spanish government-owned shipbuilder that in the past decade has spawned the lesser-known and quiet, local achiever Navantia Australia.

This article by Latika Bourke was published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 5 November. Read the full text.