The port of Cartagena (Spain), base of the imperial galleys, controlled the southern Mediterranean traffic. After reaching Algeciras and Melilla, the route crosses to the African sites which, at one time or another, belonged to Charles V (Oran, Algiers, Béjaïa and Annaba in Algeria, and Tunisia.). It then moves to the strategic islands of Pantelleria and Lampedusa (both in Italy), to finally reach the port of Valletta (Malta), capital of the island that Charles V transferred to the Order of Knights of Malta for a legendary annual tribute, a Maltese Falcon.
