Bacalao

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This page is about the possible island called Bacalao, for the Portuguese dish that is also known as Bacalao, see Bacalhau. For the salted and dried fish product, see clipfish. Bakalao is also a Spanish slang name for progressive techno music.

Bacalao (also spelled Bacalhau, Bachalaos, Bacalhaos, Baccalieu, Baccalar) was a phantom island depicted on several early 16th century maps. It is presumed to refer to Newfoundland. The name first appears on a map in 1508, but there are earlier accounts of Bacalao.

In 1472, the Portuguese navigator João Vaz Corte-Real was granted lands in the Azores by the king of Portugal, because of his discovery of the Terra do Bacalhau. Furthermore, Bartolomé de Las Casas wrote about Portuguese voyages of discovery to Tierra de los Bacallao. This has led some to believe that Corte-Real must have reached the Americas several decades before Columbus.

Bacalao literally means "dried codfish". Basque fisherman are claimed to have fished for cod at the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in the 15th century, so this is another possible origin of the name.

"The Cliffs of Baccalieu", a folk song by T. Withers tells the tale of a ship that is caught in a storm and is nearly wrecked on the shores of this country.