Columbus’s Return and Reception at Barcelona
Back at Palos in March 1493, Columbus met the Catholic Monarchs at Barcelona in April, presenting Taíno captives, parrots and gold ornaments as proof that he had reached Asia.
Ricardo Balaca · Public domain · Source
Storms on the way home drove the Niña into Lisbon first, where Columbus met John II of Portugal before reaching Palos on 15 March. His letter announcing that he had reached "the Indies" across the western sea was printed and spread across Europe.
At the court in Barcelona in April, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand are said to have risen to greet him. Columbus displayed the Taíno people he had brought, parrots and gold ornaments, and received the titles of admiral and viceroy as agreed. In May Pope Alexander VI granted the lands west of the Atlantic to Spain in the bull Inter caetera; Portugal objected, and the negotiations led to the Treaty of Tordesillas the next year.
