Jorge de Villalonga

Who is Jorge de Villalonga?

Jorge de Villalonga, segundo conde de la Cueva was a Spanish lawyer, general and the first official viceroy of New Granada, from November 25, 1719 to May 11, 1724.

Villalonga was a knight of the Order of San Juan. In the army, he rose to the rank of lieutenant general. He was a member of the council of war and a solicitor in the Kingdom of Majorca. In Madrid, he married his niece Catalina María de Villalonga y de Velasco, daughter of his brother Francisco. In 1708 he was placed in charge of the port and presidio of Callao, Peru.

On December 15, 1718 while he was serving as head of the army in Peru, he received the news that he had been named the first official viceroy of the recently created Viceroyalty of New Granada. The new colony included the present-day countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador. Until May 27, 1717, this territory had been part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

Villalonga made a long overland trip to take up his new post, stopping on the way in Quito and Popayán. On December 17, 1718, he made a great impression on the inhabitants of Santa Fe de Bogotá by the great pomp of his formal entrance into the capital.