The Condor Mission (completed)

Chapter 15 - Ignacio de Loyola

Whytuya, after all, was on his way to Barcelona, Catalonia. In this period he heard about the arrival of John Elcano in Spain and the great success of the trip circumnavigation of the Earth. He chose to ignore the subject. He was very shaken by the death of Fernando de Magalhães. I couldn't imagine that the great captain would die in a tribal battle on an island in the Pacific Ocean.
Now, Whythuya had another goal. To meet Iñigo de Loyola in Montserrat. Iñigo would change his name for Ignatius, many years later. He became famous for the foundation of the Jesuits. This man could help him to return again to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Loyola was of noble family and could have some good contacts in the great cities of the coast, from where the vessels go to the New World.

The journey from the south of Spain lasted. He traveled on foot, coasting the entire coastline of the Spanish Mediterranean until arriving in the Catalan region, near the frontier with France. It managed to shelter itself in some small towns and fishing villages that had every 20 or 30 kilometers. In order not to arouse suspicion about its origin, it did not take more than a few nights at each site. Thus, he made his journey. After all, it was the man-condor who broke every horizon and overcame every difficulty.

He worked as a fisherman in a village near Valencia. The latter was a large coastal town with a busy harbour. Fished for a few days alongside experienced shrimpers and coastal fish. used large nets to trap the crustaceans. Captured many snappers, gills and sardines. He learned how to prepare rice dishes in many ways. The Valencians were experts in mixing this Eastern cereal with meats, vegetables, spices and seafood. He called it paella, as well as the casserole that prepared the mixtures.
At that time, Whytuya met a former Colombian seaman who knew the New World. He was a cook during the expeditions in the Caribbean Sea. With Mano Gamba learned to make rice in many different ways. He thought it would be interesting to take the seeds to grow in low lands of the Tahuantinsuyo. He missed so much the four hundred varieties of corn and potatoes that existed on the altiplan, but the wheat and rice of the Old World were fantastic discoveries of those men  from overseas.
One summer night, the fishermen were talking on the beach, when Mano asked Whythuya if he knew about the courteous conquest of Mexico. It was said that Cortés's troops had arrived in the great city of Tenochtiltlan, an El Dorado, and subdued its people and leaders. These conquerors had become very rich men with the treasures of the mythical Aztec city. Whytuya still ignored the fact. He listened attentively to everything. Later, perplexed, he was not sure what to do at that moment. The Andean people were in danger.He did not sleep that night and could not think of anything else. Tenochtiltlan had been taken. What would be of Cuzco, Quito? Would they have the same fate?

He left the fishing village and Valencia behind. He climbed further north to the Mediterranean coast. He passed through Tarragona. There were many Roman ruins virtually untouched since antiquity. An immense aqueduct of great stone arches brought water from the mountains to the city, as in ancient Rome. In ancient Tarraco, when he still used his Etruscan name, there were Anfi-theaters, arenas and castles characteristic of the Roman Empire.
But time urged and our hero still needed to travel a good piece until arriving in the capital of the Catalan region. Barcelona was a city in transformation. It had gone through a long period of crisis, but now, it recovered little by little. There was an embryonic industrial community, of craftsmen and craftsmen, organizing itself for a future industrial revolution. Even with the Castile kingdom's sanctions on the trade and exploitation of American colonies, the city was developing.
At that time Barcelona had little population density. It was coming out of a great socio-economic crisis. A succession of epidemics of black plague decimated almost the entire Catalan population. That country had been a great power in the 14th century when it conquered several territories to the west, in the Mediterranean, including Sicily, Naples and Athens. However, the rise of the Catholic Kings, the Black Plague, and the impediment of exploitation of the territories of the New World, were determining factors for the decline of this nation.