Dear Henry, The city of Rota, Spain—quiet, sun-drenched, hugging the southern edge of the Iberian Peninsula—began as no more than a humble Bronze Age fishing village. A backwater, perhaps, but one rooted in salt, sea, and survival. Long before the chatter of tourists or the hum of naval machinery, it stood as a mere speck on the Atlantic coast. Then the Phoenicians arrived, those maritime traders of the ancient world. Around 3,000 years ago, they carved their presence into the Iberian coastline, and Rota was transformed from obscurity into a node of maritime commerce. The village became a harbor, a gateway, and a name on a sailor's chart. The Tartessians came next, a mysterious and semi-mythical people who called the settlement Astaroth , a name that would echo through the centuries. Until Rome swept in and renamed it Speculum Rotae,  the "Rose Mirror," suggesting a port reflecting back the red-hued sunsets that bathe Andalusia. But in 711 AD, everything changed. The Vis...