King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia preside over the ceremonies to commemorate the Valladolid Treaty

On March 22nd King Felipe and Queen Letizia presided over the inaugural celebrations to commemorate the 5th Centennial of the Valladolid Treaty (Capitulaciones) signed between King Carlos I and Ferdinand Magellan. The celebration was also attended by the President of the Castile and Leon’s Regional Government, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff of the Spanish Navy (AJEMA), among other authorities.

This is the first event to celebrate the 500 anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the world, started by Magellan and concluded by Juan Sebastián de Elcano between 1519 and 1522.

In his speech, the AJEMA underlined the fact that for today’s Navy, it is an honor, a privilege and a challenge to be the heirs of such a mighty accomplishment. Their effort, determination, spirit of sacrifice and foresight permitted to get to know the real dimensions of the Earth and opened up new lines of communications between continents.

The Valladolid Treaty

On March 22nd 1518, King Carlos I and Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan signed the Valladolid Treaty (Capitulaciones de Valladolid), a settlement agreement whereby the Monarch placed at Magellan’s disposal a fleet of five ships to search and discover the Land of Spices, while being granted the title of Captain of this Armada, Governor and Adelantado of the lands he could discover.

According to the division agreed in the Tordesillas Treaty, Magellan believed the Moluccas Islands were located within Spanish territories and not inside Portuguese domains and, consequently, the monopoly of spices should correspond to the Kingdom of Spain.

It was a historical milestone resulting in the first circumnavigation of the globe, started by Magellan on September 20th 1519 and concluded, after Magellan’s death in the Philippines, by Juan Sebastián de Elcano on September 6th 1522 on board the only surviving ship, the ‘Victoria’.