The Flotas to New Spain, 1720–1726

Abstract

The first fleet to leave Spain under the new regulations provided by the Real proyecto was the flota commanded by General Fernando Chacón Medina y Salazar, consisting of 19 ships which carried between them a cargo of 4377.68 tons.¹ This was by far the greatest volume of merchandise to leave Cadiz in a single fleet since the previous century. Besides being the first fleet to sail under the new regulations, Chacón’s was also the first flota to be governed by the cédula of March 1718, ordering the sale of its merchandise by means of a properly established trade fair at Jalapa, thus finally doing away with the traditional practice of the flotistas’ selling the goods from the fleet piecemeal in Mexico City. For the first time then, the whole cargo had to be transported to a formal fair, and the sale of merchandise at any other place than Jalapa was strictly forbidden.²