What does “la gota que derramó el vaso” mean in Spanish?
la historia del olvidado Estado neoincaico de Vilcabamba
C1 Spanish listening practice · Latin American Spanish, neutral (no strong regional accent) · Picked for people who know a lot
La gota que derramó el vaso literally means “the drop that overflowed the glass,” Spanish’s version of “the last straw.” A history clip about the Neo-Inca state of Vilcabamba uses it at the exact turning point: after years of stalled negotiations with Spain, “la gota que derramó el vaso fue que dos enviados españoles a Vilcabamba fueron asesinados,” giving the Spanish crown its excuse to invade and end the last independent Inca state in 1572.
Historians now think Túpac Amaru I was likely innocent of that killing, but Viceroy Francisco de Toledo used it as the legal justification he needed: Inca ambassadors were untouchable under “the law observed by all nations,” so their deaths gave Spain grounds for a war it had wanted anyway. The Inca was captured, tried, and beheaded in Cuzco in September 1572, closing the book on a state that had resisted Spanish rule for nearly four decades.
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Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-ESP 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.