Alonso de Arellano

Who is Alonso de Arellano?

Alonso de Arellano was a 16th-century Spanish explorer who commanded one ship out of five fleets that re-discovered the Philippines after the Magellan and López de Villalobos expedition. Spanish and Philippine historians stated that Arellano actually discovered the Philippines first before Miguel López de Legazpi, splitting off from the rest of the fleet in the galleon patache San Lucas, piloted by Lope Martín, after leaving the port of Barra de Navidad in Mexico. Arellano discovered a number of islands in January 1565 and sailed back to Acapulco, becoming the first navigator to established the "Urdaneta's Route" in the Pacific Ocean. Andrés de Urdaneta was part of the fleet of Arellano, who had separated from the group and discovered the same path afterwards. Urdaneta kept better documents and maps of the voyage and so the credit was given to him by historians.