They were looking to establish their own trade empires in the east.
Spain set up trading posts in Africa because they wanted to expand their control and set up a strong import/export business. At the same time Spain was colonizing Africa, Britain and the Dutch were as well. They had both created profitable trade businesses and Spain wanted the same success.
He lived in Spain and sailed to Asia.
Muslim merchants set up trading posts throughout southeast Asia and taught Islam to people there.
They set up trading colonies along the Spanish Mediterranean coast. I'm not brought to Spain, however, you could have a look at the history of Emporion, which is the only Greek city in Spain.
They wanted a water route to set up trade with Asia and the Portuguese had already discovered an Eastern Route. If the Western Route were shorter, Spain would have an advantage. As it turned out, the Eastern Route was much shorter.
Christopher Columbus,
Ports
Christopher Columbus did his exploration in the late 15th century. He set sail from Spain in 1492 and reached the Americas, thinking he had landed in Asia.
Christopher Columbus, under the auspices of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, set out from Spain to find an all-water route to Asia.
Christopher Columbus was looking for a western sea route to Asia in order to establish a profitable trade route for Spain. He did not set out to discover a new continent, but rather to find a faster way to reach the lucrative markets of Asia.
Trading-post empires are those empires in the earlier centuries (13-15th) which traded vast goods and set up trading posts. Trading posts were built by European traders along the coasts of Africa and Asia as a base for trade with the interior. Trading posts (or 'Factories') were islands of European law and sovereignty, but European authority seldom extended very fat beyond the fortified post.
It is an extra set of USB ports for a computer.