Para proteger las rentas reales de las prácticas ilícitas que menguaban su rendimiento fueron creados los Resguardos, grupos armados de estructura militar encargados de patrullar costas y campos buscando traficantes a los que apresar y géneros por confiscar. Durante el siglo XVIII se desarrollaron debido al aumento del contrabando de tejidos y tabaco, pero poco conocemos de sus componentes, organización y actividades al haber sido postergados historiográficamente frente a los delincuentes. Nuestro objetivo es aproximarnos al conocimiento del resguardo del partido de Vélez-Málaga en la centuria ilustrada a través de las fuentes conservadas en el Archivo General de Simancas.
Guards were created to protect royal revenues from those illicit practices that were reducing their profit. These armed groups with a military structure took the responsibility for patrolling coast and country looking for dealers to capture and goods to confiscate. During the 18th century guards developed because of the increasing smuggling of textiles and tobacco. However the information about their members, organization and activity is limited: guards were passed over in the historiography by criminals. We will focused attention on Velez-Malaga guard during the Enlightenment through sources kept in General Archive of Simancas.
