The Spanish also tried to go to Roanoke. They knew that Raleigh wanted to use the colony for privateering. They wanted to destroy the colony so he could not do that. The Spanish thought that the colony was a lot more successful than it really was. In 1590, the Spanish found the remains of Roanoke by accident. They didn't think it was the Roanoke Colony. They thought it was a small settlement outside of the main colony. They thought that Roanoke Colony was by the Chesapeake Bay. (That was where John White was supposed to set up the colony.) The Spanish could not get enough ships and people to look for the Roanoke colony because of the Anglo-Spanish War.