Antonio Mantilla de los Ríos

Antonio Mantilla de los Ríos served as a diplomat, deputy, and member of Spain’s Council of State. He became minister in Washington in 1874 and remained after the restoration of Alfonso XII. His official career included the highest grade of the Order of Charles III. ^{1, 2, 3}

Mantilla’s first New Year in Washington required him to explain a change of government in Madrid. On 1 January 1875, he notified Hamilton Fish that Alfonso XII had been proclaimed king and supplied the names of the new regency ministers. He presented the restoration as a constitutional settlement supported by the armies and towns, contrasting it with the absolutism of the Carlist claimants. ⁴

His work also reached the level of individual merchants and shipmasters. On 14 June 1878, writing from New York, he asked Secretary of State William Evarts to refund extra tonnage duties imposed on Spanish vessels. The bark Los Amigos had paid an additional $202.50 at Pascagoula. Mantilla argued that its captain’s unfamiliarity with English and American regulations explained why he had not filed a timely protest. Because the Treasury had corrected Spain’s omission from the exempted nations, he contended, a procedural requirement should not prevent repayment. He sought a general remedy for similarly affected Spanish ships. ⁵