Sept. 28 was the 483rd anniversary of the arrival of the Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo aboard the San Salvador at what we now call San Diego Bay. The San Salvador was the first European sailing vessel to reach the California coast.

Cabrillo National Monument was established in 1913 by President Woodrow Wilson. The Cabrillo/Spanish connection was prevalent in the original plans for Cabrillo National Monument, which were formulated in 1913.

Twenty years later, a fabricated shift began that asserted Cabrillo was Portuguese. The first reference to Cabrillo being Portuguese, as it relates to the Cabrillo National Monument, occurred in 1934. The first mention of the name João Rodrigues Cabrilho — note the different spelling of the final name — did not appear until 1935 and has never been verified as authentic. 

The iconic statue at Cabrillo National Monument was commissioned by the Portuguese Secretariat of National Propaganda in 1939. Two bronze plaques displayed at the monument referring to Cabrillo as a Portuguese navigator were gifted by the Portuguese Navy in 1957 and 1988. The addition of the statue and plaques was not approved by Congress nor the director of the National Park Service, as required by federal statute.

In 2015, renowned Canadian historian and expert on 16th century Central America, Wendy Kramer, Ph.D., while conducting archival research, discovered several thousand pages of manuscripts with legal documents written by official scribes. Numerous documents were signed by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo stating that he was a native of the Spanish village of Palma de Micer Gilio, now known as Palma del Río, Córdoba, Spain. Kramer was researching information about Guatemala in the 1520s and 1530s. Her findings were published in 2016 in The Journal of San Diego History.

Kramer’s paper — “Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Citizen of Guatemala and Native of Palma del Rio: New Sources from the Sixteenth Century” — was peer reviewed by several historians including Carla Rahn Phillips, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, and Harry Kelsey, the former chief curator of history at the National History Museum of Los Angeles County and research scholar at the Huntington Library. 

Robert Munson, former Cabrillo National Monument historian, verified and agreed with the historians’ peer review. Local historians Iris Engstrand and Molly McLain, then co-editors of “The Journal of San Diego History,” agreed with Kramer’s conclusion.

An April 25, 2018, letter from Cabrillo National Monument Superintendent Andrea Compton to the House of Spain acknowledged and accepted Kramer’s finding that Cabrillo was born in current-day Palma del Río, Córdoba, Spain.

Despite overwhelming evidence and scholarly acceptance, the Cabrillo National Monument refuses to affirm that Cabrillo was of Spanish birth. In fact, after Kramer’s findings, the Cabrillo National Monument inexplicably changed the birthplace of Cabrillo on its website from Spain to “the Iberian Peninsula.” 

Why does the National Park Service promote the inaccurate history that Cabrillo may have been born in Portugal? Even Portugal did not recognize Cabrillo as a native on the famous Monument of the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos) in Lisbon.

Why does the National Park Service refuse to update the information it disseminates to the public on its website, wayside exhibit and brochures? Why does it reference the name João Rodrigues Cabrilho when that person does not exist in the history of California? This name is a fake created by the government of Portugal and the Portuguese in California. Read the history of California.

The House of Spain in San Diego’s YouTube channel shows a short video about the Cabrillo National Monument history. 

Where is any similar historical research and peer review acceptance of the Portuguese claims?  Answer: There is none.

Latin American history experts with whom I have consulted unanimously agree Cabrillo was Spanish. They unanimously agree there is no reliable evidence supporting the position that Cabrillo was Portuguese.

The National Park Service needs to be honest in telling the story of Cabrillo. Give all visitors the objective truth. 

Benayas is president of House of Spain in San Diego and lives in San Diego. 

The Padres have narrowed their managerial search to no more than four finalists and expect to make a decision on who will replace the retired Mike Shildt by the end of the week.

Pitching coach Ruben Niebla, former Padres catcher and current Rangers advisor Nick Hundley and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols are finalists for the position, according to sources. It is not certain they are the only remaining candidates.

The Padres have not commented on the manager search.

It was already known that Pujols met with Padres officials Tuesday in San Diego. Niebla was seen during his interview at Petco Park on Monday, and sources confirmed he and Hundley are in the running. Hundley could not be reached for comment, and Niebla did not answer a phone call seeking comment.

Albert Pujols interviews for second time as Padres narrow managerial search

The three finalists and bench coach Brian Esposito (and possibly others) participated in interviews via Zoom last week in the first round of interviews. The second round of interviews is being held in person.

Niebla has essentially remade the Padres pitching program since taking over as pitching coach in October 2021, and the team has perennially ranked among the league leaders in that span. The Calexico High graduate pitched in the minor leagues in the Expos and Dodgers organization and coached in the Guardians organization from 2001 through 2020.

Hundley played in the major leagues for 12 seasons, the first 6½ of them (2008-14) with the Padres. He spent time working for MLB after his retirement in 2019 and has been a special assistant in the Rangers’ baseball operations department since 2022. Hundley lives in San Diego.

Pujols, whose 704 home runs are fourth most in major league history, has never coached or managed in the minor or major leagues. His managerial experience is limited to leading Leones de Escogido to the Dominican Winter League and Caribbean Series titles in 2025.

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – It’s been 90 days since Cal Trans and the City of San Diego agreed to a deal to allow city crews to clear homeless encampments along downtown freeways.

“I’m happy to report some very, I think, encouraging data from those first 90 days,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloira said. “So far, 184 encampments have been addressed. 151 tons of garbage and debris have been removed. 43 people have been connected to shelter, and 37 have accepted other forms of assistance.”

Gloria stated on Tuesday that the goal of the year-long pilot program is to get rid of such trash and debris to help those living in the encampments and the surrounding communities and to get those in the encampments who are unhoused connected to shelters and other services to get them off the streets.

The person who oversaw that assistance and outreach is Ketra Carter.

“I think what you’ve seen over the last couple of years is someone was not able to stay on one side of the street, so they went on to the right of way where our outreach teams could not engage with them,” Ketra Carter, Program Manager for Homelessness Strategies & Solutions Department for the City of San Diego, said.

Carter told ABC 10News this is a game-changer because they’re able to go beyond the physical boundary of the fencing around the land along highways. They’re also able to break down another boundary: the jurisdiction of state property.
She said city outreach workers couldn’t help those on state property. So now they’re able to meet and connect with people each day to consistently try to get them into help and out of these encampments that the City’s trying to clear.

“If we weren’t able to stay connected to help make sure that they had their ID, their Social Security card, any of the documents that are required to sign a lease for those permanent supportive housing options, they would have lost that match,” Carter said. They would have lost that opportunity, and then they would have remained on the streets and probably lost yet more trust in how the system can help.”

The initial agreement was for a five-mile area of downtown along Interstate 5, State Routes 94 and 163.

“We’ll be here daily to make it clear that this is not an OK place to stay and that we have somewhere better for you to go. When we do that, you get sustained clearance like what we have here,” Gloria said.

ABC 10News asked Gloria if there is a plan to address more of these encampments on more land along San Diego’s highways. He said the goal is to keep the program going and is willing to expand its reach.

“So whether it’s through a continuation of the pilot that we’ve been operating for the last 90 days or a statewide solution, either will allow us to continue and hopefully expand this work,” Gloria said.