S1E2 - José Gaspar

The Talegate Podcast

Every year since 1904, Florida has hosted the largest Pirate Parade in the world in celebration of the infamous pirate, Captain Jóse Gaspar. The Talegaters interview the ghost of Gaspar himself to get the first-person account of this local legend.
The Legend of Jóse Gaspar dates him as an 18th Century pirate captain and former captain in the Spanish Armada. However, the legend itself has only been in circulation since the early 19th century. Is there any truth behind his swashbuckling stories of terrorizing the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico?
It is believed his legend was first fabricated as part of a ploy to lure tourists to a luxury hotel in Central Florida, but perhaps there a grain of truth behind the story. In the wake of this larger-than-live adventurer, the Gasparilla Pirate Festival has become an annual part of Floridian culture. A Mardi Gras styles celebration has beads, pirate garb, parades, and a huge pirate invasion as hundreds of boats sail into the Bay.
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