Question: when did spain gain control of the philippines
Answer: The history of the Philippines from 1521 to 1898 , also known as the Spanish Colonial Period , started with the arrival in 1521 of European explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailing for Spain , which heralded the period when the Philippines was a colony of the Spanish Empire , and ended with the outbreak of the Spanish -- American War in 1898 , which marked the beginning of the American Colonial Era of Philippine history .