Juan de Salazar de Espinosa

Juan de Salazar y Espinosa (1508–1560) was a Spanish explorer, founder of the Paraguayan city of Asuncion. Born in the city of Espinosa de los Monteros in Burgos, Spain, not much is known about his early life.

On August 1535 he set sail from the Spanish port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz) as a member of the expeditionary Pedro de Mendoza, who set sail towards the region of the Rio de la Plata, arriving to the estuary of the Rio de la Plata in January 1536. After assisting Pedro de Mendoza in the first foundation of Buenos Aires, Juan de Salazar y Espinoza was then sent to look for Juan de Ayolas, who had been sent earlier by Pedro de Mendoza to explore the northern rivers of the Paraná and Paraguay River. He managed to find another member of Ayolas' party, Domingo Martínez de Irala, holed up in the fort of Candelaria, which was founded by Ayolas earlier in February 1537.

While continuing his trip in the search of Ayolas, he founded a fort on the eastern banks of the Paraguay River which he denominated "Our Lady of Asuncion", due to coincidence of that day, August 15, being the Christian celebration of the Asuncion of the Virgen Mary. He then traveled as far as San Pedro to look for Ayolas, only to find that he had been killed by the Chaco Indians.

Juan de Salazar y Espinosa is credited for having founded the first permanent European settlement in this region of the Rio de la Plata: Asuncion, which would become the capital of Paraguay. In 1544, he was expelled to Spain for having taken sides along the disgraced former governor of the Rio de la Plata, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. He returned to the region three years later, this time around as a treasurer to the vice-royalty, undertaking a distinguished public career in the region known as Paraguay. He died in the 1560 in the city he had founded, Asuncion.