Why did the Spanish take the island of Annobon in the Treaty of El Pardo in 1778?

Upvote:1

I think this says it all:

It even led to Annobon being in a state of virtual anarchy for some time (due to rejecting the Spanish colonization and being hard to manage from such a large distance from the Rio Muni and Fernando Po colonies).

Ceding any other island to the Spanish would have simply disrupted the management of the Portuguese colony, when there was another alternative.

The value to the Spanish of all the four islands was roughly the same, as their value lay in their proximity to the Guinea coast relative to South America or the Caribbean. Therefore the Spanish would not have had any particular preference.

However, it would have been important to the Portuguese to maintain the integrity of their colony, by preferentially ceding the outermost island to the Spanish.

Upvote:4

It could well be that Annobon, being farther out from the two Bights, has better sailing conditions - more access to trade winds, less likely for fleets to be caught by a contrary wind against the two shores. Thus it is more convenient as a base for ships travelling on to the far east via Africa.

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