The Central Market Square in Valencia, now filled with outdoor cafes and tourists photographing its modernist dome, was for centuries one of the main sites of the slave trade in the Spanish city. This is clearly documented by archival documents: from the late 15th century, this was one of the entry points for enslaved Africans. Just a few meters away, in the now-demolished Posada del Camell, more than a hundred people were sometimes crammed together in chains, waiting to be auctioned off. And yet, there is not a single plaque to commemorate it.

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Sir Francis Drake was a pirate — according to the Spanish — an honorable mariner — according to the English — commanded by Elizabeth I of England to destroy the cities, fortresses, fields, farms, or subjects of Philip II wherever they might be. Drake launched his attacks across both hemispheres without warning. He could strike against Santo Domingo, the Canary Islands, or Patagonia. There were no limits. One of the ports he successfully attacked was Cádiz in 1587.

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