O Bells of San Blas (part 2.5)
When the civil authorities of Tepic and San Blas took the oath of allegiance to the new Mexican Empire (yes, Mexico was a monarchy!) in late 1821, there were many optimistic opinions in the air for the new country and also for the port of San Blas. However, they were not to be, and in half a century, the once foremost stronghold in western Mexico was the ruin that Longfellow described. Let’s see how that happened.
Do you remember the Nao de China? Well, this was the main international link of the port. When Mexico (and all the Spanish possessions in the continental Americas) became independent, the Spanish Empire was reduced to Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, and the Pacific route was no longer convenient for the Manila-Madrid trade. So, all international trade died in San Blas, and both of the main ports in the Pacific regressed to be the westbound ports for their cities and metropolitan regions: Acapulco was the port of Central and Southern Mexico, and San Blas became the port of Western and Northern Mexico, namely, of the rich agricultural region centered around Guadalajara.
Unfortunately for San Blas (and Mexico), the tide of economy had already turned at the end of the industrial revolution, and Mexican silver and artisanal leather produce was not as valuable as it used to, for the new mass-produced goods coming from England, France, the Low Countries, and the United States were easily shippable and profitable enough for overseas travel. Also, the Mexican mines and farmlands were devastated after 10 years of a popular revolution. Mexico bought a lot and exported almost nothing, and tariffs were the main source of income for the new empire (which became a republic in 1823, just two years after independence).
Still, the port of San Blas was the gateway to Mexico from the Pacific. And let’s remember that the Spanish Empire centralized colonial commerce in Spain, and did not let any other power trade with their colonies. So, as it usually happens for new markets, trade started dripping, little by little, into the port.
Alas, hurricanes and changing of ravines had changed the landscape, and by the 1820s, the port of San Blas was no longer directly accessible to man o’wars or even commerce schooners, which had to be unloaded a mile away and cross a wavy strip of ocean before getting to the new port. By the way, this feature, which doomed San Blas as a port, is now an upside. Should you ever go to the beaches in Matanchén, Las Islitas or El Borrego and you’ll notice that the slope from the shoreline to the point where you are belly-deep is very gentle, and packed with settled yet elastic sand. The waves within the area in which you still can stand with your feet are not very high (few reach higher than 1.5 m), but they are strong enough to easily use a bodyboard (and sometimes even a surfboard!), which is still one of my favorite things to do when I go there…
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Those of you who have visited Tepic, which is my deeply-loved hometown, but still a very rural city for Mexican standards, will be surprised to find out that, as the first stop in the way to San Blas, and with a much more temperate weather, it had Spanish, British and Prussian consulates! Trade was controlled by two great companies, which mostly exported tobacco and imported industrial goods. But the war between those companies, which would intertwine with the VERY jumpy years from 1830 to 1880 in Mexico and Nayarit, and which would also play a major part in the demise of San Blas, will have to wait for the next chapter.
