With the unconditional support of the historian Lawrence Clayton, professor of History of the University of Alabama, Alabama Press has shown a great interest in the project of editing the works to English. The distribution plan is ambitious and the book with the support of the University of Alabama would be in US. book stores and libraries.

It is the first in a series of books sponsored by the España-Florida Foundation 500 Years to highlight Spain’s contribution to U.S. history.

"Historia de la Florida Colonial Hispana (1500-1616)" by Cuban historian Dr. Salvador Larrúa, is the first installment in a trilogy on Spain’s 300-year presence in Florida. The book focuses on the 16^th and 17^th centuries which marked the beginning of the process of exploring North America’s vast frontier.

The works was published by the España-Florida Foundation 500 Years in association with Santillana USA and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation. The author was born in Camagüey, Cuba in 1942. Dr. Larrúa is a university professor, historian and researcher who had 28 history books published in several countries.

In his trilogy, Dr. Larrúa describes the origin and development of the Spanish presence in Florida as well as the rest of the United States, and the contributions those settlers made. In his first volume, Dr. Larrúa documents the first explorations and expeditions and the tremendous effort by Spanish governors to colonize this land amid terrible hardships: lack of funds, Indian uprisings and attacks by the French, English and pirates. Readers of this outstanding work will gain an appreciation for Spain's magnificent and unparalleled contribution to this nation’s history.