Jose gaspargasparilla biography
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Faces behind the Places: Jose Gaspar
Hillsborough County is full of inspiring, iconic, and interesting places and events, and there are remarkable people behind them. In this occasional series we explore namesakes of some of the county's well-known buildings, parks, roads, and happenings.
Who was Jose Gaspar?
Jose Gaspar allegedly was a pirate of Spanish descent who pillaged vessels along Florida's West Coast and held people captive at an island hideaway in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Perhaps it doesn't matter if he actually existed, a matter of perennial debate. As namesake of Tampa's annual Gasparilla pirate "invasion," parade, and related events, the swashbuckling seaman has attained legendary status.
Why name an annual celebration for a (perhaps) make-believe pirate?
The first Gasparilla took place in 1904. Borrowed from New Orleans' Mardi Gras and tinged with an edgy nautical flavor, the idea was to keep visitors around and r
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Gasparilla- The island, the pirate, the myth, the truth...
About Gasparilla
The Legend of Gasparilla
The theme of Gasparilla was inspired by the local legend of José Gaspar, a Spanish naval officer who turned to piracy. Different legends say that he was either a nobleman and adviser to King Charles III of Spain who was exiled after a romantic scandal in the Spanish court or an ambitious young officer in the Spanish navy who was driven to mutiny by a tyrannically cruel captain. Whatever his reasons, the stories agree that Gaspar stole away in the late 1700s to the virtually uninhabited southwestern coast of Spanish Florida and established a secret base at Charlotte Harbor. Gaspar is said to have plundered many ships and taken many female hostages in almost four decades of roaming from Louisiana to the Spanish main aboard his stolen flagship, the Floridablanca. His exploits came to a sudden end in 1821 when, to avoid being captured by the schooner USS Enterprise, he wrappe
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José Gaspar
José Gaspar, known bygd his nickname Gasparilla (supposedly lived c. 1756 – 1821), was a purported Spanish pirate, the “last of the Buccaneers,” who is claimed to have raided the west coast of Florida during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Though he is a popular figure in Florida folklore, no evidence of his existence appears in writing before the early 20th century. His legend is celebrated every year.
The stories of Gaspar are fairly consistent. Most säga he was born in Spain in 1766 and served in the Spanish Navy aboard the Floridablanca. Among his early exploits was his kidnapping of a young girl for ransom; some versions give his subsequent capture as the impetus for joining the navy. Simpler versions of the story have him starting a mutiny and becoming a pirate soon after, but more romantic ones säga he achieved a high rank and became a councillor to King Charles III. He was popular in the court, but when he spurned one lover for another,