Villalobos portrait a gift from Malaga
A portrait of the Spanish explorer who gave the name “Las Islas Filipinas” to the Philippine archipelago in 1544 was presented as a gift to the Philippines by an organization in Malaga, Spain.
The portrait of Ruy Lopez de Villalobos was handed by Malaga City Mayor Francisco De La Torre Prados, who is also the president of the Foro para la Paz en el Mediteraneo (Forum for Peace in the Mediterranean), to Philippine Ambassador to Spain Philippe Lhuillier at a ceremony held recently at the Malaga City Hall.
The group is composed of maritime experts and national security forces working to study and maintain stability in the Mediterranean region.
The portrait, done by the locally acclaimed Malagueño painter of maritime themes, Vicente Gomez Naves, is a copy of Lopez de Villalobos’ portrait at the City Hall’s Hall of Mirrors alongside other celebrated natives of Malaga.
Lopez de Villalobos was commissioned in 1541 by the Viceroy of New Spain and the first colonial administrator in the New World to send an expedition to the Islands of the West, now known as the Philippines. His fleet of six galleons left Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico with 370 to 400 men on November 1, 1542.
In April 1544, he and his crew members made their way to the islands of Samar and Leyte, which he named Las Islas Filipinas (The Philippine Islands) in honor of the Prince of Spain, Philip II.
Driven away by hostile natives, hunger, and a shipwreck, Lopez de Villalobos was forced to abandon his settlements in the islands, and the expedition. He, and his crew members sought refuge in the Moluccas, where they quarrelled with the Portuguese, who imprisoned them.
The Spanish explorer died of a tropical fever on April 4, 1544 in his prison cell on the island of Amboyna in Indonesia.
During the presentation of the portrait, Prados spoke of Malaga’s pride as the hometown of the great Spanish explorer and one of the first Spaniards to have forged a connection with the Philippines.
Lhuillier noted that “the name ‘Filipinas’ is a perpetual acknowledgment of our longstanding ties and our shared past,” and that receiving the portrait is “a testament to our good relations...and also speaks of how much (Spain and the Philippines) bilateral relationship has evolved in all areas—politically, economically and culturally.” The ambassador also took the opportunity to point out the increased arrivals of Spaniards to the Philippines and the recent research findings by the Spanish retail giant El Corte Ingles stating that Filipino tourists spend more than 2,000 euros while on vacation in Spain, considered the highest amount spent by tourists to the country.
He also highlighted the massive economic and social benefits to both countries in continuing to find ways to increase people-to-people exchanges, which is expected to be raised by the imminent signing of the Air Transport Agreement.