WELCOME to the latest edition of This Week in Spanish History, written by Michael Coy.
OCTOBER 21, 1520 – Magellan enters the Pacific
When a Spanish naval expedition pulled off a sensational ‘first’ by sailing all the way around the world (1519-22), the leader – Ferdinand Magellan – wasn’t able to celebrate the triumph.
He’d been killed (he was only 40) in the Philippines.
The whole project was fraught with problems. Being Portuguese, Magellan wasn’t popular with his Spanish officers, and they plotted against him.
After a five-month delay in Brazil because of winter storms, Magellan found a way around South America.
In October 1520 Europeans entered the Pacific Ocean for the first time. An encounter with Filipino natives cost Magellan his life.
OCTOBER 21, 1931 – Hugh Thomas is born
It’s curious but true that the greatest historians of the Spanish Civil War have all been British.
Paul Preston has published many books, including a major biography of Franco. Ian Gibson solved the mystery of the assassination of Lorca. But perhaps the king of them all was Hugh Swynnerton Thomas, who died as Baron Thomas in 2017, at the age of 85.
His magnificent The Spanish Civil War came out in 1961 and truly has no rival.
Thomas was highly-respected in Spain and received many awards.
He was often interviewed on Spanish TV, acknowledged as the world’s leading expert on the Franco era.
OCTOBER 21, 2018 – Malaga’s worst-ever rainfall
Because Spain is not geared-up for bad weather, on the rare occasions when it strikes it causes mayhem.
The rain deluge which hit Malaga eight years ago is officially listed as ‘the worst on record’.
396mm fell in one day, wreaking havoc along the Costa del Sol.
One fireman, a native of Antequera, lost his life in the flash floods.
However, the inundation had one positive effect – since then, the Spanish media have been unable to moan about empty reservoirs: recent estimates suggest that Andalucia has enough water to last two years!
OCTOBER 22, 1739 – The War of Jenkins’ Ear
If the name sounds like a Monty Python sketch, the war itself was even dafter.
Spain owned Florida in the 1730s, and Britain wanted to steal it (exporting American tobacco would be much cheaper from ports like Miami and Lauderdale).
When Spanish coastguards boarded a British ship, there was a scuffle, and the British claimed that a blade-happy Spaniard had cut off the captain’s ear.
Robert Jenkins (the victim) was invited to parliament in Westminster to whip up anti-Spanish sentiment.
After eight years of ‘war’, with hardly any fighting, both sides agreed to call it off.
OCTOBER 22, 1973 – The death of Pablo Casals
It’s not every week that you read about cello players in the Olive Press, but Pablo Casals deserves a mention.
In his long life (he died just short of his 97th birthday), Casals played for monarchs and presidents all over the world.
A proud Catalan whose real name was Pau, Casals left Spain when Franco came to power in 1939, and vowed not to return until democracy was restored.
In 1963 he was supposed to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from John F. Kennedy, but JFK was assassinated in Dallas before the ceremony could be held.
OCTOBER 23, 2022 – An Irishwoman dies in Mallorca
A 75-year-old woman fell to her death six years ago, while hiking in a Mallorca beauty spot.
The deceased, whose name was withheld, was a member of a twelve-person group of mostly Irish hiking enthusiasts.
They were exploring the Pas d’en Segarra when the victim lost her footing and fell thirty feet.
Emergency services arrived very promptly, but there was nothing anyone could do.
OCTOBER 24, 2019 – Franco is exhumed
Between 1975 and 2019, the mortal remains of General Franco lay in the Valley of the Fallen, the weird Fascist monument that Franco built to himself, just to the west of Madrid.
Pedro Sanchez’s government decided that the Valley, being a tribute to war victims, ought not to give pride of place to the individual who started that very war.
It was a controversial move, but Franco was removed. He now lies in a ‘regular’ Madrid cemetery.
Click here to read more Spain News from The Olive Press.