Spiro was one of the main Argentine navy commanders in the United Provinces' victory at Martin Garcia. He died on 28 March 1814 during the naval battle of Arroyo de la China, on the Uruguay river, near Concepción del Uruguay, when he decided to scuttle the yawl he was commanding rather than surrender her to the royalists. The royalist commander on chief, Jacinto de Romarate, claimed that the ship blew up after being hit by the guns of his flagship, the brigantine "Belén."