In the mid-nineteenth century, a Spanish steamer used to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. Her name was \u201d El Mallorqu\u00edn\u201d and was under the command of Don Juan Suau y Bennaser. In addition to his duties as commander of \u201d El Mallorqu\u00edn\u201d \u201d Juan Suau was a restless businessman who set up an aniseed and other typical Caribbean products business in Cuba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Distilling rum was also part of the business, and to this end he exported to Cuba half a dozen copper stills, which were in common use in the XIX century. When Captain Suau began his enterprise, the previously vast Spanish Empire had been reduced to just two territories, Puerto Rico and Cuba\u2026 both in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This did not stop him from extending his voyages to Veracruz, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Santo Domingo and Haiti, in addition to his voyages in the Mediterranean and around Atlantic Europe. In one of his port calls in Mallorca, he fell in love with the daughter of a Spaniard who had been involved in the liquor business in Spain and America for generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The girl\u00b4s parents did not put barriers to this budding love affair, but before granting her hand and letting the Captain take her to the altar, he had to do two things: give up sailing and his overseas business ventures, as they did not want their only child living so far away. The bride\u00b4s demands and the willingness of Suau to accept them are, both from an historical and a human perspective, easy to understand. In the old Cuba, back in the 1830s, some voices were already calling for Independence, first with courteous appeals to the Crown and later with gunpowder and bullets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the mid-nineteenth century, a Spanish steamer used to sail across the Atlantic Ocean. Her name was \u201d El Mallorqu\u00edn\u201d and was under the command of Don Juan Suau y Bennaser. In addition to his duties as commander of \u201d El Mallorqu\u00edn\u201d \u201d Juan Suau was a restless businessman who set up an aniseed and…<\/p>\n