Based on preserved indian municipal decrees, promulgated in some Hispano-american cities and applied with general character to a vast majority of territorial populations, it analyzes how town councils as well as colonial authorities exercised discriminatory practices when it came to non Spanish dwellers. The minority mainly composed of indians, creoles, mestizos and europeans. It indicates the racial character of edicts and decrees. In addition, it provides an exhaustive analysis of the topic. Through legal depositions it shows how discriminatory urban rulings affected economically and administratively the most disadvantaged sectors of colonial society.

A partir de las ordenanzas municipales promulgadas para algunas ciudades hispanoamericanas y aplicadas con carácter general a gran parte del territorio americano, se analiza cómo, tanto por parte de los cabildos como de las autoridades coloniales, se establecen diferencias discriminatorias con respecto a la población no-española compuesta por minorías de carácter racial y a las que se limita económica, jurídica y administrativamente dentro del ordenamiento urbano.