Historical research was then followed by structural design, a work that took 6 months, and later on followed the construction of the galleon, which lasted 17 months and employed 150 people until her launching in Punta Umbría (Huelva, Spain) on November, 2009. It took three years to research the main historical and maritime archives in Spain and compile all necessary information about galleons’ shapes, details and measures so that this replica could be built. She has navigated the Pacific and Indian oceans, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and her wake has spread over the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the South and East China seas, the Aegean Sea, the Bosphorus strait, the Caribbean Sea and the whole East Coast of the US, covering thousands of nautical miles in an attempt to evoke her ancestors. Since her launching, a crew between 15 to 35 people have manned her across the seas and oceans around the world. Four masts hold 6 sails which measure almost 11,000 square feet. Essentially, this is a 500 ton galleon, with length overall reaching 160 feet and a beam of 32 feet. They carried plenty of seamen, merchant traders and settlers, while their holds bore the fabulous loads resulting from American and Asian trade. For three centuries, these Spanish galleons crossed the Atlantic Ocean back and forth, sailed around the Caribbean Sea and the American coasts, and covered the Pacific route as well.
Galleons were intended to discover and then establish trade routes between Spain, America and the Philippines islands, and formed what was then called the “Fleet of the Indies”.
These ships were the type of vessel used by the Spanish Crown for maritime expeditions during the 16th through the 18th centuries. The Galeón Andalucía is a replica of a 16th-17th century galleon, the only one in the world that sails in present days.
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