In the meantime, with their fate uncertain, the Spanish despatched rescue missions to recover them. Garcia Jofre de Loaysa departed from La Coruña in July 1525, with seven ships and four hundred and fifty men.
Eighteen months later, after the same challenges Magellan's crew had faced, a solitary galleon carrying two dozen men reached the Moluccas.
News of Loaysa's expedition prompted conquistador turned Viceroy, Hernán Cortés, to send three ships under his cousin Álvaro de Saavedra Ceron to assist with the rescue mission.
The three ships left Mexico at the end of October 1527, arrived in Tidore the following March and joined the remnants of Loaysa's expedition in their struggle against the Portuguese in nearby Ternate.
However, the return journey proved more difficult. Saavedra made two unsuccessful attempts to reach Mexico and eventually made his way back to Spain through the Portuguese hemisphere.
In the meantime, Spain and Portugal struck a deal over their respective claims to the Moluccas. The Treaty of Zaragoza, signed on 22 April 1529, set a more precise meridian in the Atlantic and an antimeridian east of the Moluccas.
It was not an equitable split.
The Portuguese portion was roughly 191°, with the Spanish slice around 169°. However, the agreed line moved the Moluccas securely into the Portuguese hemisphere in return for 350,000 gold ducats.
The Spanish king used the money to cover the costs incurred in a European war.
He then tried to establish a foothold in the islands to the north of the Moluccas. He seems to have been working on the principle that the Portuguese would not object too strongly as long as their spice-trading interests were not affected.