Canaries

A group of Spanish conquistadors for Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor travels through the American jungle, following a route that will lead them to the legendary city of gold of Tezutlan as recorded by a previous expedition. The forty men and women are nominally captained by the aging nobleman Don Gonzalo de Baztán and his young wife Ana, but actually commanded by brutal, gold-hungry veteran Ensign Juan de Gorriamendi. Tensions arise in the group due to the jungle's perils and their own grudges with each other, including the unpopularity of Don Gonzalo due to his summary executions and the growing attraction between Ana and one of the soldiers, Italian Wars veteran Martín Dávila, who rivals Gorriamendi for her. After crossing a river filled with alligators, the expedition is told by messenger Jeromillo that the governor who sanctioned the mission has been deposed, and that his successor has sent another contingent under the command of Captain Juan Medrano to catch up with them, planning to execute Don Gonzalo and override the expedition. In order to avoid Medrano, and by advice of the group's local guide, Chocó auxiliary Mediamano, the group turns towards a territory populated by hostile Carib tribes. However, ultimately deciding against Don Gonzalo's incompetent leadership, the conquistadors revolt against him and have him killed anyway, with Gorriamendi taking over the mission. The ensign also becomes Ana's forceful lover, further digging a trench between Dávila and him. The group reaches a peaceful tribal village where they find Manuel Requena, a survivor of the first expedition who settled down and started a family with a native woman. Despite their help, events go awry when Jeromillo turns out to be a traitor who had allowed Medrano to follow them, causing the village to be massacred and burned by the pursuers. The expedition organizes an ambush and defeats Medrano's forces, executing the captain in retaliation and integrating the survivors into their own, dwindling numbers. Afterwards, they continue until Río Grande, which separates them from the region where Tezutlan is supposedly located. A savage local tribe attacks them next, exerting psychological warfare with poisoned darts and war chants, but the Spaniards counter it with a vihuela song by Dávila's idea and turn the tables on them. The group then attacks the tribe's village, coming victorious despite being ambushed and outnumbered. However, upon finding cannibalized remnants of Spanish soldiers in the shacks, soldiers led by Gorriamendi and Catholic priest Father Vargas intend to retaliate by executing the village's women and children, causing a scuffle against Dávila in which Mediamano is killed. As a consequence, rebelling against Charles V's orders, Gorriamendi and his followers try to kill the rest of the conquistadors. Ana dies in the fight, but her sacrifice allows the loyalists to defeat and execute Gorriamendi. With the expedition now reduced to four men led by Sergeant Bastaurrés, their route takes them through a battlefield between two warring tribes. Dávila and soldier Barbate manage to make it out alive, eventually reaching the city of Tezutlan on the Pacific Ocean coast, only to discover the legendary gold city is just a pauper village with gold-colored glazed clay roofings. Realizing all was for nothing, and despite knowing they will be probably executed for all the trouble when they return, Dávila takes possession of the territory for the Spanish crown.