Bottle with Message from Cuba Reaches Vigo, Spain After 28 Years

A glass bottle with a message launched into the sea from Cuba on June 6, 1998, by a 10-year-old girl named Sara has finally reached Samil Beach in Vigo, Spain, traveling over 6,000 kilometers across the Atlantic and gathering messages from various people throughout nearly three decades.

The discovery was made on August 7, 2026, during the O Marisquiño festival, when sisters Lena and Xulia Soto were swimming in Samil after a day of skating and noticed something floating in the water, reported Faro de Vigo on Saturday.

The Unexpected Find

"I thought it was plastic," admitted Xulia upon spotting the object from the shore. She alerted her sister Lena, aged 11, and together, with their mother Leticia González and their skateboarding friends, they retrieved the bottle and uncovered its contents: several handwritten messages spanning different times, the oldest dating back to 1998 and signed by the Cuban girl, as noted by the newspaper.

A Message from the Past

The original text read: "Hello, my name is Sara. I'm writing this letter from Cuba, June 6, 1998. Let's see if someone finds it. I'm 10 years old. If you find it, throw it again and see if it reaches me."

This message was penned during a particularly harsh period for Cuba: in 1998, the island was still grappling with the so-called Special Period following the Soviet collapse, enduring power outages of eight to 16 hours daily, severe food shortages, and a practically halted transportation system.

The fact that a 10-year-old girl, in such an environment, entrusted a message to the ocean hoping someone across the world would discover it adds a unique emotional layer to the story.

Journeys Across the Atlantic

Before reaching Samil, the bottle made at least three stops at Carril Beach in Vilagarcía de Arousa, as reported by the Spanish newspaper.

Two of these findings were documented on March 27, 2023, when two individuals who signed as Ana and María found it and left their message: "Hello, we are Ana and María. It seems the bottle doesn't want to leave Carril because we found it on the beach on 03/27/23. We hope it returns to Cuba someday."

Three days later, the bottle reappeared at the same shore, and a third person, identified as Milucha, added a single line: "My name is Milucha. The sea returns it to the beach."

Among the messages inside was also one signed by Lucía and Nayara, aged eight, dated in 2023, seemingly the first direct response to Sara's note: "We are Lucía and Nayara. We are 8 years old, and we hope it reaches Cuba."

The Legacy of Galicia and Cuba

The Soto sisters and their mother also documented their encounter, adding a new link to the chain: "Hello! We are Galician skaters aged 11 to 13. We are participating in O Marisquiño in Vigo on 8/7/2026. We hope the chain doesn't break and it returns to Cuba. Safe travels! Chapela rules!"

On the day of the discovery, they attempted to relaunch the bottle from Samil, but the currents continually returned it to the shore: "We tried to throw it back from the same beach, but it kept coming back," they explained.

The connection between Cuba and Galicia runs deep: between 1899 and 1960, approximately 378,000 Galician immigrants arrived in the island. This legacy endures, as Cuba is now the third-largest Galician community outside Spain, trailing only Argentina and Brazil, with 51,326 people registered at the beginning of 2026.

Now, the Soto sisters plan to relaunch the bottle from the Island of Ons or the Cíes Islands, where they hope the currents will finally carry it away from the coast, continuing its journey, perhaps back to Cuba, or to an unforeseen shore.