Vasco Núñez de Balboa Did Not Discover Spain

Vasco Núñez de Balboa (c. 1475–1519) was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is famous for leading the 1513 expedition across the Isthmus of Panama, becoming the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean from the Americas.

Spain was not "discovered" by Balboa. The Iberian Peninsula was inhabited since prehistoric times; Phoenicians established trading posts around 1100 BCE, Greeks founded colonies in the 6th century BCE, and Romans conquered the region by the 2nd century BCE. Balboa was himself a Spaniard, born in Jerez de los Caballeros, Extremadura.