How Spain battled a previous pandemic by sending a group of orphans around the world as ‘human vaccines’

A groundbreaking 19th century voyage to combat smallpox in Spain’s colonies has been brought back into public consciousness because of the coronavirus pandemic, reports Laura Mannering in Madrid

Villagers of Arnedillo light bonfires of pine and rosemary to honour San Andres. The roots of the procession are found in 1888 when a outbreak of smallpox devastated the village (Getty Images)

Spain’s desperate battle with the coronavirus pandemic has revived memories of a historic campaign to combat smallpox and the fate of a group of orphans that were used to carry the vaccine.  

The groundbreaking 19th century voyage was brought back into public consciousness in March, when the armed forces were called in to bolster the country’s coronavirus response, including disinfecting airports and care homes.  They dubbed the action “Operation Balmis”, after doctor Francisco Javier de Balmis, who led the expedition to Spain’s smallpox-ravaged colonies.  

More than 30,000 people have died from Covid-19 in Spain, which is now grappling with a second wave of the virus that has prompted a partial lockdown in the capital. A new emergency hospital that will treat coronavirus patients in Madrid pays another nod to the extraordinary smallpox mission: it has been named after Isabel Zendal, the orphanage rectoress who nursed the boys on the journey.