By John Smith • Published: 22 Apr 2024 • 12:03
Competitors dress for the event Credit: Screenshot YouTube
As foreigners living in Spain, many of us can still be surprised at some of the bizarre traditions that occur, but most of Europe can match Spain.
The town of De Panne in Belgium, hosted the European Seagull Screeching Championships on Sunday April 21 and there was definitely a Pan-European turn out.
The championship is very much a Belgian organised affair with categories for adults, children and groups (know as colonies which is the collective name for seagulls) but the winner in the adult section came from Portugal and the winner in the children’s section came from the UK and it was only in the colony section that Belgium took the top three places.
According to the organisers, “gulls are the sound of the sea, the acrobats in the air, giving you the time of your life and a sea gull screeching brings back good memories”, that is of course if you have never had your ice cream or burger stolen on the promenade, been buzzed by Stuka-like dive bombers with razor sharp beaks or been the recipient of one of their special air born deposits.
Supposedly, those taking part at the event, take the competition very seriously, studying the sounds that the gulls make and trying to imitate then precisely, although the fact that the competition took place in a packed out bar where the beer was flowing and a comedian was booked to follow the event, might indicate a certain tongue in cheek attitude when they describe the event.
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Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica. Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene. Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development. Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews
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