Between 1503 and 1505, Nicolás de Ovando, Spanish governor of the Hispaniola, founded the town of "Puerto Real" (English, "Royal Port") where is the present town of "Caracol", to the west of Fort-Liberté. But soon this town was abandoned and the people moved to the east, founding in 1578 a new town with the Taíno name of the region: Bayajá.