You Can Climb Aboard a Massive Reproduction of a 17th-Century Spanish Galleon That’s Sailing Around the World

The Galeón Andalucía, a hulking reproduction of a Spanish galleon, is sailing to London. It will arrive on September 23 at St. Katharine Docks, where visitors will be able to climb aboard through October 6.

The 160-foot-long ship is a full-sized replica of the armed merchant vessels manufactured by Spain and Portugal between the 16th and 18th centuries. Built in 2009, it boasts six decks and seven sails, according to a statement from the Nao Victoria Foundation, the nonprofit that manages the ship.

“[Galleons] were designed to cross the largest oceans as efficiently as possible,” per the foundation. “They carried plenty of seamen, merchant traders and settlers, while their holds bore the fabulous loads resulting from the American and Asian trade.”

London is the latest stop on the Galeón Andalucía’s European tour, which aims to educate people about these “legendary Spanish ships that for three centuries connected the great continents of the planet,” per the foundation’s website. This year, the “floating museum” has visited the Netherlands, Germany, France and multiple ports in the United Kingdom.

Alvaro Lecaro, the ship’s manager, has been living aboard the Galeón Andalucía for nine years, leading crews of up to 35 people.

“It’s a big ship, so living aboard is not too bad, as we have space,” Lecaro tells BBC News’ Bob Dale. “It lets you travel around the world and show Spain’s maritime history.”

The vessel has traveled thousands of nautical miles and stopped at ports on four continents, including New York, Shanghai, Quebec and Manila, the capital of the Philippines—which has a unique connection to Spanish galleons.

Between 1565 and 1815, Spain had a fleet of so-called Manila galleons. Each year, one of these ships made one long trip across the Pacific Ocean, from Manila to Acapulco. In Manila, the vessels loaded up on raw Chinese silk and other Asian goods. They then sailed to Acapulco, where they sold that cargo and loaded up on silver, which they brought back to Manila. The Spaniards living in the Philippines became so dependent on this annual roundtrip—which also constituted Spain’s only contact with its island colony—that if a Manila galleon was captured or sank, they fell into an economic depression. In general, the ships were vital to Spanish trade around the globe.

El Galeón Andalucía Gravesend 10 Sept 2024

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Building the Galeón Andalucía was a years-long process. First, researchers spent three years compiling information about galleons from Spanish maritime and historical archives. The next step, developing a structural design, took six months. Finally, 150 workers spent 17 months building the vessel.

Earlier this month, the galleon docked on southern England’s Isle of Wight. As the Isle of Wight County Press’ Alex Cooper reported, visitors were invited aboard to learn what it was like to sail on a galleon hundreds of years ago.

“It’s fantastic. Aren’t we lucky to have it on the island?” Graham Biss, the Isle of Wight’s high sheriff, told the publication. “It’s such a fantastic replication of the technology at the time.”

One significant 21st-century addition is the presence of engines, which enable the ship to sail with a much smaller crew. Hundreds of years ago, more than 150 people crewed these kinds of vessels, as Lecaro told BBC Radio York’s Bek Homer earlier this year.

“Right now, we sail if we have down winds. But if we don’t have down winds, we can use the engines,” he says. “Back in those days, [this] was impossible, so you can imagine how difficult it was.”

Sonja Anderson | READ MORE

Sonja Anderson is a writer and reporter based in New York City.