Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

La disputa por la desviación del río Guadalete y sus efectos en el comercio Atlántico

2020; Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca; Volume: 42; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.14201/shhmo202042193124

2386-3889

Juan José Iglesias Rodríguez,

Medieval and Early Modern Iberia

In the context of determining the capital of American colonial trade, rivalries between different cities developed as each one sought to reap maximum benefits of their positions within the Andalusian Atlantic urban network. Jerez de la Frontera attempted to divert the course of the Guadalete river through the Salado river in order to obtain direct access to the sea whereby the local goods could be carried without leaving Crown lands. This initiative provoked a long legal dispute with El Puerto de Santa María before the Council of Castile that also implicated the city of Cádiz. In doing so, the case effectively put into play both the conflicting commercial interests of these cities as well as the mechanisms of negotiation in place between local powers and the Crown. The new Atlantic policy proposed by Philip V new ultimately fostered a radical solution to the conflict that placed the strategic interests of the state ahead of local aspirations.