Did you know there were pirates in the Cíes Islands?

Indeed, not long ago, in the 16th-18th centuries, the history of the Cíes Islands was marked by the constant presence in its waters of pirate ships and enemy navies seeking refuge from storms or stopping to make repairs and replenish their fresh water supplies, when they were not using them as a base of operations for their misdeeds on the nearby coasts, Vigo and Baiona specifically.

I would like to tell you the story of Francis Drake , the English sailor whose adventures were a headache for Spanish interests.

The beginnings of Francis Drake

His first voyage was at only 13 years old , rising through the ranks over the years. In 1567 he made his first expedition whose mission was to trade in slaves. The route took them through African waters to later cross the Atlantic and sell these men on islands like Margarita and Dominica.

His first defeat

On his return to England, a storm diverted his fleet to the Gulf of Mexico, an area dominated by Spanish ships; Drake and his fleet were defeated, losing part of their fleet.

Despite a formal truce between the Spanish and English crowns , armed incidents between the two maritime powers became more violent and frequent during this period. In fact, the continuous incursions of English ships into Peruvian viceroyalty waters led the Spanish Crown to consider any navigator who entered the Pacific as a pirate and treat them as such.

His capture

In 1572 , he set sail again with the intention of attacking Spanish troops in the Panama area , where the Spanish Indies fleet usually resupplied before crossing the ocean back to the Iberian Peninsula. In July of that year, he failed in his attempt to seize the Spanish fleet and was wounded . He remained in the area throughout that year, and in 1573, allied with the French sailor Guillaume Le Testu, he captured a Spanish convoy laden with gold and silver.

When Drake returned to England on August 9, 1573 , the mere thirty sailors who accompanied him were all rich for life. Queen Elizabeth I of England , who patronized other pirates like him, also sponsored his expeditions and raids, even though she had signed a temporary truce with Spain, so she did not officially recognize Drake's actions but profited from them.

To be continued in chapter 2