Conquest of the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera (1508)

History

By the early 16th century the territory of Badis and its surroundings was ruled by Muley Mançor (name in the Spanish chronicles), a Wattasid governor (cousin of the Sultan in Fez) who signed in January 1508 an agreement with the Republic of Venice to declare the independency from Fez (although according to the account of Hernando de Zafra there was already a "king" in Badis by 1492). Badis was a corsair nest accused of raiding the coastline of Granada; and, thus, a Spanish argument on the need to build a fortress in the neighboring rock presiding over the cove of Badis in order to manage the problem with the fustas emerged. During the reign/regency of Ferdinand, following the termination of negotiations with the ruler in Badis, Pedro Navarro, who was the leader of a flotilla docked in Málaga as it was to take part in the mission to conquer Oran, proceeded to take the rock in 1508. As any presence in the rock fled once the flotilla approached, Navarro occupied it on 23 July 1508 and installed troops and artillery before leaving with the flotilla.