The General Inefficacy of Low-Level Law Enforcement

While the previous chapter looked at the blending of criminality and disorder on and off the stage, we shall now look into the confusion of art and life in terms of law enforcement, starting with real-life alguaciles and eventually moving to their representation on stage. The higher echelons of government, such as the Council of Castile, needed “boots on the ground” effectively to enforce their decrees. Alguaciles’ duties often made them professionally and personally involved in the theatrical world. Some alguaciles had an artistic involvement with public spectacles as well. Before examining these intertwining relationships, it seems useful to provide a general outline of the law-enforcement structures in place in early modern Madrid, the undisputed theater capital of Spain. As Ángel Alloza tells us, from 1561 until the middle of the eighteenth century maintenance of public order was split between two institutions, the “Sala de alcaldes” and the corregidor. The Sala was responsible for policing the area within approximately thirty kilometers of the royal residence, and all ordinary criminal cases were prosecuted through this institution. The alcaldes were magistrates who issued their own sentences with the exception of the death penalty, which required confirmation from the king. Those who enjoyed special protections (the military, nobility, clergy, etc.) were supposedly exempt from the Sala's jurisdiction, but conflicts or “competencias” often arose concerning who could prosecute whom. The actual enforcement of the law at street level was carried out by the corregidores, who organized the alguaciles, generally headed by an alcalde, into a ronda that “watched the streets and squares, taverns, gaming houses and brothels at night, and during the day, plays, playhouses and other public places”. The corregidores and their subordinate alguaciles were also in charge of the city jail. During their rounds, both alcaldes and alguaciles were accompanied by at least one escribano, or scribe, who recorded the “truth” of cases that arose in the streets during the night watch, as well as arrests in general, incidents in prison, or other relevant occurrences.