 It was in this area that some sources report that Quesada's men made the first ever encounter with a "truffle" crop later identified as the potato.Following the Spanish conquests a new town was baptised Puente Real de Vélez, existing as a subsidiary to the town founded by Martin Galeano in 1539, before eventually acquiring its current name during the period which followed the comunero rebellions of 1781.These local uprisings set in motion the first wave of Spanish American victories against the Spanish Empire, however an eventual liberation only arrived after 1819.