The Spanish in Manila: How the Galleon Trade Created a Global City

In the late 16th century, a small Malay fishing village became the hinge of a global empire. When Miguel López de Legazpi founded Manila in 1571, he couldn't have imagined it would soon rival Seville and Mexico City as a crossroads of silver, silks, spices, and souls. This episode dives into the making of Manila as a colonial capital: how the Spanish transformed a Muslim settlement into a walled Catholic city, the Intramuros. We explore the role of the Sangley Chinese—merchants, artisans, and laborers who built the city and were confined to the Parián, a ghetto that was both a market and a pressure valve. We also cover the Manila-Acapulco Galleon, the silver lifeline that connected Asia to the Americas, and the tension between Spanish authorities, Chinese migrants, and indigenous Tagalog communities. Discover how the Spanish used divide-and-rule tactics, the impact of the encomienda system on native Filipinos, and why Manila became a city of fire, rebellion, and resilience. This is the story of a city that was never just Spanish—it was always global. #Manila #Philippines #SpanishColonialism #GalleonTrade #Sangley #Intramuros #Legazpi #Parián #Encomienda #SilverTrade #History #FexingoHistory #ColonialCities #GlobalTrade #ChineseDiaspora #Tagalog #MiguelLópezDeLegazpi #ManilaAcapulcoGalleon Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo