Calle de Sebastián Elcano

The man who gives this street its name came back from circling the planet with eighteen companions and a battered ship. Juan Sebastián Elcano, born around 1486 in Getaria, set out in 1519 as master of the ship Concepción in the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, five vessels bound for the Spice Islands. Magellan fell in April 1521 in a fight in the Philippines. Of the shattered fleet a single hull remained afloat, the Victoria, and Elcano took command. He chose to press west, cross the Indian Ocean, and round Africa through waters Portugal considered its own. On 6 September 1522 the ship anchored at Sanlúcar de Barrameda: they had made the first full circuit of the Earth. Charles I rewarded him with a coat of arms showing the globe and the motto Primus circumdedisti me, “you were the first to circle me.” Madrid named the street in 1866. In 2022, on the fifth centenary, the city council corrected the sign to the full name, Juan Sebastián Elcano, though everyday speech still shortens it to Sebastián Elcano.