Diego de Salinas
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Don Diego de Salinas |
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The Last of Gibraltar, by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau. It depicts Diego de Salinas in 1704, with the Rock of Gibraltar in the background.
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| Birth name | Diego Esteban Gómez de Salinas y Rodríguez de Villarroel |
| Born |
August 3, 1649 Madrid, Spain |
| Died | November 27, 1720 (aged 71) Madrid, Spain |
| Allegiance |
 Spain
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| Commands held | Last Spanish Governor of Gibraltar |
| Battles/wars | Capture of Gibraltar |
Don Diego Esteban Gómez de Salinas y Rodríguez de Villarroel (Madrid, August 3, 1649 – November 27, 1720) was the last Spanish Governor of Gibraltar. He held the post when The Rock was captured by an Anglo-Dutch fleet in August 1704.
Salinas y Rodríguez was the son of Pedro Gómez Salinas and Agustina Rodríguez de Villarroel, of the small nobility (from Burgos, by his father's side and Valladolid, by his mother's side). He began in the army as a page of the Constable of Castile, Iñigo Fernández de Velasco. He made a quick career, being promoted to ensign of cavalry and rising to the rank of captain of infantry before the age of 20. He took part in battles in the Netherlands, and was promoted to the rank of captain of cavalry in 1670. Salinas fought in the Franco-Dutch War, and remained in the Netherlands until 1673, when he returned to Spain and was directed to the army of Catalonia. In 1675, he was wounded in combat in the defense of Puigcerdà which was being attacked by the French. In December 1677, he returned to Murcia.
In 1685, Salinas y Rodríguez served as the field marshal of the Spanish infantry in Pamplona, and he requested admission into the Order of Santiago. This request was accepted after a thorough investigation of his ancestry. In Pamplona, he participated in battles of the Nine Years' War against the French in the hills of Alduide, where he managed to expel the invaders.
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