Juan Sebastián Elcano was born in Getaria, on the coast of Gipuzkoa, at the dawn of the Age of Discovery, in 1487.

He was the Basque sailor who completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth in the history of mankind in the Magellan-Elcano Expedition, remaining at the head of the expedition after the death of Ferdinand Magellan.

The Magellan-Elcano expedition is a maritime expedition that took place in the 16th century under the command of Francisco de Magallanes and, after his death in the Philippines, Juan Sebastián Elcano. The expedition, financed by the Crown of Spain, is the first circumnavigation of the Earth in history. It set off from Seville downriver in the direction of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, the starting point of the circumnavigation. After preparing there for a month and ten days, it finally set sail on 20 September 1519. The expedition finally returned to the port of Sanlúcar on 6 September 1522, with only one ship and 18 survivors.

Elkano's Getaria