It was noon of the Spanish Empire. 12 o'clock of glory. Felipe II, King of Spain, also became King of Portugal and the Lusitanian territories: Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea, Goa, Damau, Diu, Timor and Macao, among others.

The Bahamas belonged to that Spain. That is why I have been saddened by the indifference of our public opinion in the face of the atrocious devastation of the islands. Television has reiterated Dantesque images, razed paradise to the passage of Hurricane Dorian .

On October 12, 1492, Columbus, commanding three Spanish caravels, arrived at one of the Bahamas islands, Guanahaní, which he called San Salvador proclaiming the sovereignty of the King of Spain. The director of the true ABC, Torcuato Luca de Tena, organized three journalistic expeditions to the Bahamas to geographically confirm the version of Columbus. His grandfather, Torcuato Luca de Tena and Álvarez-Ossorio, founder of the newspaper and one of the great names in the history of Spanish Journalism, would have applauded the grandson.

With nearly 800 islands, islets and cays, the Bahamas were a refuge for pirates, buccaneers, corsairs and filibusters. In 1684, first, in 1695 and in 1703, later, the Spanish Army fought in the Bahamas to dominate the islands where historical pirates such as Blackbeard , Edward Thatch, who ended up beheaded and with their heads hung in the bowsprit of a British ship There were also the two famous pirate women, inspired by Salgari: Mary Read and Anney Bonnay, who escaped from their house next to the Rackham privateer. With the drunken seafaring, Anney fought until the end against the boarding of British ships. Sentenced to death Rackham, Anney said goodbye to him: "If you had fought like a man you would not have ended up hanged like a dog." In 1782, Juan de Cajigal, governor of Cuba, in charge of 5,000 men, recovered Nasáu. The English royalists against the American independentistas settled in the Bahamas and, in 1784, the Empire declared them a British colony, without Spanish opposition.

The sovereign presence of Spain for three centuries in those islands would force, perhaps, humanitarian aid. The country is, by the way, a parliamentary monarchy with 300,000 inhabitants and an exceptional Queen: Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

Luis María Anson , of the Royal Spanish Academy.

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