1603 Captain General of the Galleys of the kingdom of Naples.
1604 Naval actions in the Mediterranean African Coast, Longo Island.
1605 Siege and Conquest of Estarcho and the City of Durazzo, on the Albanian Coast (in 1606[1])
1612 In May, commanding the Naples kingdom Fleet of Galleys, with Ottavio d'Aragona commanding those of the kingdom of Sicily, sink several galleys from Algiers.
1614 Take part in the transport to North Africa of morisco´s from Spain not willing to become Roman Catholics while living in mainland Spain.
1622 Takes part in an African expedition.
1625 Relieved Genoa under siege from the France and the Duchy of Savoy. His action was immortalized in the painting Relief of Genoa by the Marquess of Santa Cruz (1634) by Antonio de Pereda
He was married in 1590, in Almagro, Spain, to Guiomar Manrique de Lara. Their descendants included two sons and five daughters.
Mauro Alvaro, the eldest male, was 3rd Marques, marrying on 22 October 1627, Genoese noble woman Maria Francesca Doria, a daughter of Carlo I Doria del Carretto, 1st Duke of Tursi, a Grandee of Spain with many other lesser titles, (Genoa, Italy, 15 October 1576 – Genoa, Italy, 19 December 1649) and Placidia Spinola, (1584–1660), 2nd Marchioness of Calice and Veppo, between other titles. No surviving adult issue.
Thus, the title of Marquess of Santa Cruz became attached to a branch of the Pimentel family, a female called Mencia Pimentel y Bazan. When she married a "Benavides" male, it was agreed by the couple that if they had a male, the male child would be named Francisco Diego de Bazan y Benavides to honor her ancestors and "recuperate" her ancestors name, something not uncommon between the High Spanish Nobility.
In fact, a son was born and named Francisco de Bazan y Benavides (died in 1680). He was Captain General of the Spanish galleys and Viceroy of Sicily, (1674 Interim), using always his mother's ancestors' family name, "Bazán", as a token of respect, and possibly, duty.