When Cádiz was the gateway to the United States

Long before thousands of U.S. troops disembarked at the naval base in Rota in the province of Cádiz, other Americans were arriving at the capital’s port laden with wheat, flour, or rice. They came from Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Boston, sailing under a flag as new — the Stars and Stripes — as it was advantageous, given its neutrality in a Europe mired in various wars. That relationship was so intense and profitable that the United States opened one of its first consulates in Spain in Cádiz in 1790, alongside the one in Bilbao, just seven years after the Spanish Crown officially recognized the independence of the former British colony.

Seguir leyendo