Una nación en camino. La migración genovesa y la afiliación consular en las costas atlánticas (1770-1865)

This article analyses the evolution of the role of the consuls in the territories of the Hispanic monarchy during the Genoese emigration from the end of the 18th century to the first half of the 19th century. Emigration from the Ligurian coasts underwent profound political and institutional changes during this period; on the one hand this led to the disappearance of the republic of Genoa and to its annexation to the kingdom of Sardinia, and on the other hand, to the disintegration of the Hispanic monarchy, to which the Genoese businessmen had linked their fortunes. In order to identify the possible changes or continuities in Genoese consular affiliation with the emergence of new state realities, the analysis will focus on the port of Cadiz, a centre for commerce with the Indies and home to one of the most important communities of expatriates at the end of the Old Regime, and the port of Buenos Aires, the main settlement area for modern Genoese emigration to America after the collapse of the colonial order