Presentación. Homenaje a Carlos A. Mayo

For the late colonial period, Buenos Aires was a city different from the rest of Latin America, both in terms of their culture and in its social manifestations and its unusual growth. It took just over three decades for the small village is transformed into a thriving Spanish-American city. The key to this transformation was given throughout the eighteenth century, since this was a period of profound political and social changes and Buenos Aires is no exception. The city began to change in all its aspects. First, the conflict of Bourbon Spain with England and Portugal led to profound changes in Spanish policy for strict control of the colonies at the edges of the empire. The creation of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata in 1776 and the extension of free trade ordinance two years later gave a big boost to the city. Thus, Buenos Aires became an active center of attraction for migrants both internal and external to the Spanish Empire. These reasons led to mutations in the political, social and architectural growth leading to a city unique for Hispanic between 1750 and 1810