What annual Spanish trade route linked Manila and Acapulco for over two centuries?

The Manila galleon was the Spanish trade route linking Manila and Acapulco for more than two centuries.

The system began in 1565 after Andrés de Urdaneta established a workable return route across the Pacific. Ships carried Asian goods from Manila, in the Philippines, to Acapulco in New Spain, present-day Mexico. They commonly departed in the summer and arrived the following spring, using different wind and current patterns for the eastbound and westbound legs.

The cargo included Chinese silk, porcelain, spices, cotton textiles, lacquerware, and other luxury goods. In the opposite direction, American silver was exchanged in Manila for Asian products, making the route part of a vast global trading network. Manila’s harbor and Cavite shipyards became central to this commerce.

“Manila galleon” can describe both the route and the large Spanish ships that sailed it. It was not the Spice Route or a European clipper route. The trade ended in 1815, when the Mexican War of Independence disrupted the Acapulco connection.