colony · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Spanish Formosa

1626 CE – 1642 CE · capital Santisima Trinidad (Keelung)

A small Spanish colony on Taiwan's northern tip, founded from Manila to protect the galleon trade, which the Dutch captured in 1642.

Origins

Alarmed by the Dutch presence in the south of Taiwan, which threatened the trade between China and Spanish Manila, the Spanish sent an expedition under Antonio Carreño de Valdés in 1626. It occupied the harbour of Keelung, founding the settlement of Santísima Trinidad and Fort San Salvador, and in 1628 built Fort Santo Domingo at Tamsui.

Rule and society

The colony was a garrison outpost governed from Manila, with Dominican and Franciscan missionaries working among the Basay and other indigenous peoples. Hopes of drawing Chinese and Japanese trade away from the Dutch were disappointed, and the colony was costly and disease-ridden.

Decline and legacy

Manila, needing troops against Muslim sultanates in the southern Philippines, reduced the garrison in 1637 and abandoned Tamsui. In 1642 a Dutch force besieged Keelung, and the governor Gonzalo Portillo surrendered. Northern Taiwan passed to Dutch Formosa.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Spanish Formosa. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/spanish-formosa
MLA
“Spanish Formosa.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/spanish-formosa. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Spanish Formosa.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/spanish-formosa.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Spanish Formosa’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/spanish-formosa (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻