Veracruz and the Pirates - A Fascinating History of Danger on the High Seas

Pirates enjoy a certain amount of glorification these days through the movies and all, but in the olden days they were terrorists of many port cities around the world and exploited a number of seafarers. Veracruz knows this fact all too well, as they too had their fair share of terrorism from the pirates on the high seas. In fact, the city was attacked by pirates all the way up until the 19th Century.

Veracruz was founded by the Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes. He landed in the area in 1519 and began his quest to conquer Mexico for Spain in what is today, Veracruz. The sea port was named "La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz" or "The Rich Town of the True Cross."  Veracruz became New Spain's port. It was here that silver and various wares were transported overland from locations, such as Acapulco, to the Spanish treasure fleets for shipment to Spain. Because of this, the port was an ideal location for pillaging. The port was regularly harassed by pirates who terrorized the city from 1653 to 1712.

In response to the pirate attacks, a large fortress called San Juan de Ulua was built on an island in the harbor and was regularly expanded to protect the city. The defenses of San Juan de Ulua were quite strong and there was only one incident afterwards that the pirates approached the fort for nearly 200 years.

One of the most famous raids on Veracruz by pirates was Lorenz de Graaf's Raid. Life in Veracruz went on from 1600 to 1683 quite casually. The fort was safe, but provided little protection from the pirates to the town, although it could protect itself quite easily.

In 1683, a Dutch pirate named Lorenz de Graaf "Lorencillo" took over the town in the night. He and his gang, along with John Russell, herded the townspeople into the church. They held them there for three and a half days while he and his men ransacked the town. Because May is the hottest month of the year in Veracruz and the people had no food or water, many people leapt to their deaths from the roof of the church.

When the pirates were done attacking the town, the pirates kidnapped thirty of the prettiest girls and left them on the Isla de los Sacrificios before they went back to their lair in Laguna de Terminos. The girls remained on the island for nearly 5 days without food or water before help arrived to save them. The lack of safety from pirates shook the entire Colonial Empire of Spain. The people were defenseless and wanted to leave the colony and go back to Spain. However, the King forced them to pay for a wall to be built around the city for their protection instead.

This event led to the creation of a song that many people still sing today — La Bamba. Because there wasn't much of an army in Veracruz, many of the young men of the city were forced to defend the city. A new civil defense system was also enacted that included alarms, bells and defense drills. Because the people believed that the authorities in the city were useless, they began to sing the song that made fun of the pompous local officials, but had a catchy tune. Many of the lyrics to this song exist today, although most people do not know the original meaning.