Gaspar Cervantes de Gaeta (Trujillo, 1511[n. 1] – Tarragona, 17 October 1575) was a Spanish cardinal of the 16th century.

[2] Cervantes participated in the Council of Trent, where he stood out for his eloquence and wisdom,[1] thus winning Pope Pius IV's confidence.

That year he founded the University of Tarragona, to which he donated a total amount of twenty thousand Catalan pounds.

[2] On 16 April 1573, he authorized the village of Almoster to own its own baptismal fonts in its church, which spared its inhabitants the inconvenience of going to Reus for this matter.

[2] He also created a penitentiary canonry, founded a residence for Jesuit monks, a hospice for beggars, and invested on the orphanage.

He considered that the inner side of the harbour of Tarragona could be assaulted easily, therefore he decided to extend the defenses adding a bastion to the Roman walls that took his name.

[2] Cervantes published a work titled Instruccions, y advertiments molt útils necessaris per les persones ecclesiàstiques y principalment per als qui tenen cura d’ànimes, així de com s’han de haver en les persones, com ensenyar e instruir a sos parroquians en públic y en lo secret de la Penitencia (Barcelona, 1575).