In the year 2019 marks the fifth centenary of the start of the naval expedition initially led by the Portuguese navigator in the service of the Spanish Crown, Fernando de Magallanes, with the purpose of opening a new route to the Spice Islands. The trip ended three years later, on September 6, 1522, under the command of Juan Sebastián de Elcano, seaman of Guetaria (Guipúzcoa).

For the commemoration, which is considered an event of special public interest, the National Commission for the commemoration of the V Centenary of the first round-the-world expedition of Fernando de Magallanes and Juan Sebastián Elcano has been created and has been launched an ambitious program of activities that can be consulted on the V centenary website.

Cartography plays a central role in most of the activities, among which the following exhibitions can be highlighted:

• «El viaje más largo» [The longest trip] in the Archivo General de Indias (Sevilla)
• «Fuimos los Primeros. Magallanes, Elcano y la Vuelta al Mundo» [We were the first. Magellan, Elcano and Around the Round-the-world] in the Museo Naval (Madrid)
• Exposition «Una vuelta al mundo en la BNE» [A roun-the-world in the BNE] in the Biblioteca Nacional de España (Madrid)