page_title: Paraguay–Spain relations
section_title: Spanish colonization
hierarchical_section_title: Paraguay–Spain relations / History / Spanish colonization
caption_attribution_description: Español: Juan de Salazar y Espinoza
context_page_description: Paraguay–Spain refers to the current and historical relations between Paraguay and Spain. Both nations are members of the Association of Spanish Language Academies and the Organization of Ibero-American States.
context_section_description: In 1524, Aleixo Garcia, a Portuguese explorer in the service of Spain arrived to present-day Paraguay. In 1536, the first Spanish settlements in Paraguay were established by Domingo Martínez de Irala in the Asunción region and initially, Spanish settlers lived in peace among the Guaraní people. In 1542, Paraguay officially became part of the Spanish Empire and governed by the newly created Viceroyalty of Peru based in Lima.
  In the early 1600s, Jesuit missionaries began arriving to Paraguay and established missions to convert the local Guaraní people to Catholicism. This period was known as the Jesuit reduction. For the next 150 years, Jesuits developed their own autonomous area of control within Paraguay which led to conflict with the Spanish administration of the colony. From 1721-1735, Spanish landowners waged a struggle to overthrow the Jesuit monopoly of Indian trade and labor. Spanish and Portuguese troops joined together to overthrow the Jesuit dominance in the region which resulted in the Jesuits being expelled from Paraguay and nearby colonies in 1767.
caption: Statue of Spanish conquistador Juan de Salazar de Espinosa, the founder of Asunción
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