Fluffy_Fishy said: I think the sailors being from southern spain is a fairly big historical myth, The Genoans were seen by the spanish as master sea farers, im not really sure why as the Aragonese were famed for their piratical seamen. The Spanish took a lot of the glory for funding the Genoan expeditions. Genoa being a city state built on personal wealth, rather than state enterprise lead ot them being unable to have the finance to risk losing a small flotilla of ships. While Genoa didnt exactly take part in their own personal colonising as Galaahd said they did often create towns mostly all over in spanish territory, there are still areas in south america where Italian is the second language. I'm not entirely sure where the spanish ships were built, but the designs for their early navies were almost entirely Genoan. Click to expand...

Only a little part of the explorers/conquistadores were italian, also the place of born of Christobal Columbus inst clear.The ships of the first travel of Christobal Columbus (La Pinta, La Niña y La Santa María) were made in Spain and the crew was selected by Martín Alonso Pinzón ( a spanish) who was the capitan of La Pinta. I dont search all spanish expeditions, but this is a proof that in the benning the expedition "was spanish" (except Columbus). Spain was able to make his own ships. The areos of South American as Italian as a second language are form inmigration of the XX and XIX centuries (mayority in Argentina and Uruguay) You can said that the design was genoan (I dont know) but if the ships were made in Spain, they are Spanish. Spain selected capitans from all his personal possesions (España, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, Milan, ect). Also if the expedition is paid by Spain and the capitan works for Spain, and the crew of the ship is spanish, the expedition is Spanish.And the other thing is that Spain has as enemy the "Black Legend" (Legenda Negra)