La fiscalidad como fuente de información del comercio y el tráfico colonial (1573-1650): El almojarifazgo de la caja real de veracruz

The study focuses on the new-Hispanic port of Veracruz, which served as the re-shipper of the goods negotiated in Mexico, studying the documentation of the tax of the Real Caja de Veracruz. It gives us information about incoming and outgoing ships, their destinations or origins, and the amount paid for almojarifazgo, without distinctions. As a percentage charged on the value of the merchandises, the total value negotiated in the port between 1587 and 1650 has been calculated. In spite of the fraud and the contraband that was during all the period, it can be considered a source of reliable and approximate information of the new Spanish trade. The objective of the research, using the data provided by the almojarifazgo is to quantify the amount collected, establish the different periods of boom and crisis in the collection, discriminating imports and exports of intercontinental and colonial trade.