Joaquín José Melgarejo y Saurín

What people wore

The universal male cloak

Regardless of wealth, men almost universally wore a cloak as an essential outer layer, even over French-style clothing, and it was often used for multiple purposes including as a mattress or blanket.

Getting around

Post riders travelled quickly between stations

Travelers could ride as post, which was the fastest and most advanced way to move around Spain, covering 36 to 48 kilometers per day on average. Riders moved between postal stations, typically 14 to 22 kilometers apart, aiming to spend only 45 minutes per league traveled.

At the table

Diet of the Laboring Poor

Poor laborers often ate soup with oil or cornmeal porridge in the morning and legumes or salted sardines at midday. Wine was considered expensive, so these families typically drank it only on feast days, sometimes to excess.

Music

Music in Religious Contexts

Although secular music thrived, religious authorities like Charles III eventually prohibited dancing and playing instruments during religious acts in 1780. Despite this, music remained part of wedding processions and romerías (pilgrimages), which allowed for more musical freedom than church services.

Daily life

Difficult access to water supplies

Water was a daily constraint for ordinary people who lacked piped access and often fetched it from public fountains or bought it from water carriers. To supplement supplies, households collected rainwater in cisterns or relied on local wells, requiring significant manual labor to provision for drinking, cooking, and cleaning.

What it cost

Worker wages in the late 1700s

A typical daily wage for a common laborer was around 3.5 reales, though specialized workers like carpenters could earn between 6 and 11 reales.