Fray Tomás de Berlanga

Fray Tomás de Berlanga (* 1487 in Berlanga de Duero, Soria Province, Spain; † August 8, 1551 ibid ) was the fourth Roman Catholic Bishop of Panama and is considered the discoverer of the Galápagos Islands. After Tomás de Berlanga numerous streets, squares and buildings are named in Spain, Central and South America.

Tomás de Berlanga was a member of the Dominican Order and was 1508 prior of the island of Hispaniola (Santo Domingo ) was chosen. During this time (around 1516) he introduced the banana in the Caribbean, from where the crop spread in Central and South America. In 1534, he was eventually appointed bishop of Panama. The spiritual office he held until 1537.

The Spanish king Charles I commissioned in 1535 the Bishop Tomás de Berlanga Panamanian with a mediation mission between the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro and his officers in Peru. Berlanga came to the crossing with his ship in a calm and arrived by sea currents on 10 March 1535 the coast of the Galapagos Islands. The then unknown islands were called first Islas Encantada ( Enchanted Isles ) and took it for the Spanish crown in possession.