Copy of Magellian-Elcano Expedition route to be done by the Spanish Training Ship “Juan Sebastian de Elcano”

Throughout this year and the following three, one of the greatest deeds in the history of mankind will be commemorated: the first Earth circumnavigation.

Under the command of Captain General Ferdinand Magellan, an expedition of more than two hundred men of different nationalities left Port Sanlucar on September 20, 1519 on board a well organized navy, promoted and protected by the Spanish Crown.

After sailing more than 14,000 leagues (42,000 miles), exploring new routes and discovering unknown seas and lands overcoming many adversities, 18 men aboard the Nao Victoria, under the command of navigator Juan Sebastian de Elcano, completed the feat and returned to the starting point on September 6 of 1522. "Primus Circumdedisti Me" (First to Circumnavigate Me).

This achievement changed forever the course of humanity, by establishing intercontinental ties and exchanges of all kinds that allowed to transform and unite markets, societies and cultures, and to conceive, for the first time in history, an unprecedented global and shared world.

The international dimension of the world's first circumnavigation is the essential point of the commemoration of the event that changed the world, and the results can be seen to this day.

In order to provide a guiding thread to the international dimension, the Spanish Navy Training Ship "Juan Sebastian de Elcano", which for more than 90 years has been sailing the World's seas bearing the name of the first man who first circumnavigated it, will replicate the route of the Magellian-Elcano expedition, touching the same ports visited and lands discovered by the expedition on the same dates of the 500th anniversary of this historical event.

The Spanish Navy Training Ship "Juan Sebastián de Elcano" will arrive precisely on the dates of the "Magellian-Elcano" expedition throughout Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Guam, Philippines, and Indonesia, starting this coming December when it will make its first stop in  Rio de Janeiro.

The arrival of the “Juan Sebastián de Elcano” in these ports coinciding with events of the expedition, will be the focal point of the commemorating activities in those countries; in that sense, activities are being organized and coordinated with academic, cultural, nautical and sports institutions, as well as meetings and experience exchanges between Spanish students and their peers in their host country.