The situation that prevailed on the Petite Côte, outlined by Sebastião Fernandes Cação ca. 1608 in Madrid as part of his Relación, shortly thereafter came to the attention of Philip III and the government of Portugal, as well as to the attention of the “Companhia de Jesus.” The religious question became mixed with economic and administrative issues, and with the judicial inquiry into the activity of the contratador João Soeiro, particularly his activities relating to commerce with the Dutch through the intermediary of his brother in Amsterdam. The question of the participation of the Jews on the coast in commerce with foreigners, including the English and the French, is raised again in an opinion about an undated petition of the Municipal Chamber of Ribeira Grande (Cape Verde Islands). This petition dates to 1610–1615 (MMA, IV, p. 563). The issue is also raised in the reports of at least four governors of Cape Verde before 1640. What follows is a chronological reconstruction of the manner in which the communities of Porto d'Ale and Joal entered the consciousness of local and metropolitan Portuguese institutions, and how those bodies responded.

A letter dated November 1611 from Philip III to the government of Portugal concerning an inquiry by the Conselho da Índia mentions an opinion of the Governor of Cape Verde, D. Francisco de Sequeira, “about people of the nation of New Christians who live as public Jews on the coast of Guiné.”