La Real Aduana de México and the love story behind it.

The Royal Custom House and the love story behind it.

La Real aduana o  Consulado de México is located on the E side of the square, the building occupies the whole street and a great portion of the block, originally the house was smaller and actually it was rented from the Marquis of Villamayor, by the end of the XVII c. the house was bought by the crown and construction of the existing building began.

The façade is very elegant with windows, portals and gables all of them made with sandstone topped with merlons, the portals are huge because they had to allow the passing of large carriages, one of the reasons the Royal Custom House is on the square is because the merchants could wait outside meanwhile the inspections took place without creating a traffic jam.

The interior is vast and lofty, the main stairway is decorated by murals by Siqueiros, where he made a statement about his communist beliefs and his opinions about the imminent fall of capitalism.

The Aduana was also called ¨El Consulado de Mëxico¨ because during nearly 300 years Mexico was the main trading centre for the Far East and Spain, the great ship know as the Manila galleon used to sail off from Acapulco with silver coins, the pesos of ocho reales, at the time the international currency of choice, were minted in Mexico City (and highly appreciated by the Chinese) and back from Manila to Acapulco, with silk, china, ivory, spices and so on.

El Consulado had the responsibility to apply the mercantile law, which was contained in the ¨Libros del Consulado del mar¨(¨books of the consulate of the sea¨) a legal corpus written in Catalunya and Valencia in the middle ages that governed trade in the Mediterranean and elsewhere.

By 1731 D. Juan de Acuña, Marquis of Casa Fuerte (born in Lima, Peru) was viceroy of the New Spain and in his circle was a gentleman 40 years old, wealthy, single  and indolent, his name, D. Juan Gutierrez Rubin de Celis, Knight of Santiago, this gentleman was apathetic, indifferent and hated to work, but soon all this was going to change as a young relative of the viceroy arrived from Spain, she was beautiful, with green eyes, a lovely smile and a witty conversation, her name was Da. Sara de García Somera y Acuña, Don Juan Gutierrez fell in love, he sensed that the young lady might be inclined to accept him as husband and therefore he approached the Viceroy, the Viceroy agreed with one condition, D. Juan had to change his ¨vita et moribus¨ and pass a test, D. Juan was made Prior of the Consulate of Mexico, with the task of finishing the long delayed construction of the Aduana in 6 months time, D. Juan used his own money and kept men working day and night, on the date agreed, he visited Da. Sara followed by a black manservant holding a cushion embroidered with his coat of arms and on top of it the keys of the aduana. Once married he ordered to carve and acrostic on one of the arches given faith of the construction of the Aduana, Alonso Toro in his delightful ¨Cantiga de las piedras¨ mentions that M.H. Janvier in his ¨Legends of Mexico City¨ notes that there is no acrostic with the letters of the name of Da. Sara in the arch inscription, anyhow a lovely story.