La red de salinas y el comercio de la sal en el estuario del Tinto durante la Edad Moderna: Huelva, San Juan del Puerto, Palos de la Frontera y Moguer

Abstract

Salt during the Old Regime became one of the instruments for the development of the economy of the towns located around the Tinto river (western Andalusia, Spain) because it was a fundamental product for the preservation of food, the preparation of the supplies and logistics for the ships that left their ports since the time of the discoveries. As a consequence of the demand for this marine resource, there was a network of salt flats destined for regional consumption and the commercial circuits that connected the Atlantic and Mediterranean routes. Precisely, the commercial profitability of the exploitation of the aforementioned product and the tax regime that imposed on it, motivated that the noble lineage (Medina Sidonia, Portocarrero, Saltés and Cifuentes) tried to dominate the ownership of the exploitation of the salt pans since the late Middle Ages despite having originally been a royal prerogative.