The Galicia region in northwestern Spain was shortlisted. The same goes for the Balearic island of Mallorca, where there is a theory that Columbus was the illegitimate son of Prince Viana, the brother of King Ferdinand, who supported his landmark voyage.
Another hypothesis suggests that Columbus was a Jew from the Mediterranean port city of Valencia. According to this theory, his unknown childhood may be explained by the fact that he tried to hide his Jewish background to avoid persecution by the ardent Catholic Spanish monarch.
Elsewhere in Spain, the regions of Navarre and Castilla La Mancha also claim Columbus as a source. According to one Portuguese theory, the explorer was a noble pirate whose real name was Pedro de Ataíde.
RTVE provided some sweet clues about Columbus ahead of the broadcast, including a finding that “will revolutionize everything we study.” However, Marcial Castro, who participated in this project, revealed in the teaser video that he chose the ‘traditional Genoese theory’ as the most reliable theory to support as a historian.
In a statement, Professor Lorente said his team was “still analyzing very important recent data” that had no influence on the content of the documentary but were of scientific importance and would be published in November along with the full results of his team’s research.
Program colon ADN. Su verdadero origen (The DNA of Columbus: His True Origins) airs on Saturdays at 22:30 (20:30GMT) on TVE 1 in Spain.
