These foreign incursions prompted the Spaniards to build massive fortifications, which culminated with the erection of the Fortress of Santiago and the island fortress San Juan de Ulúa to protect the harbor. John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake plundered the town in 1568, while the French corsairs left the town, with its 6,000 inhabitants, in ruins in 1683. Needless to say, its wealth attracted numerous foreign privateers. Its customhouses provided the primary source of revenue for colonial government.
During the colonial period Veracruz flourished as the only official Gulf port of New Spain and the major link between the colony and Cádiz (Spain). In 1599 the Spanish viceroy ordered the settlement of Veracruz to be moved next to the port itself so the storehouses and treasury would be adjacent to the ships. Veracruz thus became the first municipality in the Spanish colony of New Spain (Mexico).
VILLA DE VERA CRUZ FULL
The Spanish conquistador immediately appointed town councilmen, who in turn named him captain of the expedition with full military authority. The first settlement, which Cortés named Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, was established several miles to the north, where ships could anchor more easily. The Spaniards found the coastal plain inhabited by Totonac Indians, who had established their administrative center at Zempoala, 25 miles to the north. On Good Friday, 22 April 1519, Hernán Cortés landed his Spanish expedition on the small island of San Juan De Ulúa, near the present city of Veracruz, and established the first base of operations for his conquest of the Aztec civilization. This city has been Mexico's major center of foreign commerce and primary source of commercial revenue since the Spanish conquest. The principal seaport of Mexico is located 265 miles southeast of Mexico City on the Gulf Coast.
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