Video | How did the galleon 'San José' sink? This was his last trip

More than 300 years have passed since the Spanish galleon

was sunk by an English ship in the waters of Cartagena de Indias, territory of what is now Colombia.

Carlos León Amores, doctor in archeology and professional diver, is in charge of the project to locate all the Spanish ships sunk in the Caribbean.

He is also the narrator in this video of the last voyage of the

and the importance of her loss for Spain in 1708.

The richness of the merchandise that was lost has been seen again these days, with better quality than ever, thanks to the images made public by the Colombian authorities (which can be seen in the video), which has invested in recent years in the renovation of its technology to be able to investigate the galleon.

The

was discovered in its waters in 2015.

It was “a brutal economic loss”, according to León;

“These are the flows that have been expected for two years, three years, four, five.

And, obviously, the Spanish economy essentially depends on these flows!”.

War of succession

The

was the flagship of his fleet and was commanded by the experienced captain José Fernández de Santillán.

After leaving Cádiz and arriving in Cartagena de Indias in 1706, it picked up its cargo at the Portobelo Fair in 1708, and when it was returning to Cartagena de Indias, the fleet was attacked by English ships, something that was not unusual in the context of the War of Succession that pitted Spain against England in those years.

"The order that the English commodore has is not to attack," explains León.

The objective was to capture the ship, her treasure and her crew, but in the framework of the harsh Battle of Barú, there was an explosion or a fire that ended up causing her to sink.