Escuadra de 1656: un combate naval en la Bahía de Cádiz

Abstract

The author reports on the shipwreck of the Almiranta de San Francisco Javier (1656) coinciding with the reign of King Phillip IV (1621-1665) and studies the historical moment in which the kingdom suffers continuous assaults from Holland, France and England. The loss of the Almiranta San Francisco Javier is the symbol of the downfall, the reflection of the lack of communication between America and Spain, the lack of a naval policy substituted by a foreign policy devoted to war which compelled Spain to obtain maximum resources in the Peninsula and in the Indies