DOUBTLESS THE PROBLEM of saving property arose immediately after the publication of the Edict of Expulsion, according to which it was prohibited to remove from the kingdom gold, silver, coins, and many other things, which were already forbidden and not specifically mentioned in the edict. This stringency exacerbated the plight of the exiles by expanding the existing restrictions on exporting jewels, horses, donkeys, and mules, grain, weapons, and gunpowder. Each prohibition had its own justification. For example, the grounds for forbidding the export of vehicles are clear: for if every household leaving by land took one vehicle, this would deal a severe blow to the national economy. Similarly, the prohibition against the export of weapons and gunpowder is understandable, for this threatened to increase the power of the Portuguese enemy. The same consideration applies to grain, a shortage of which might lead to famine in the kingdom. Relatively speaking, these prohibitions had little relevance for those who left by sea.

The prohibition against the removal of gold, silver, jewels, and coined money was clearly meant to harm the deportees themselves, since it denied them any means of subsistence. The question arises in all its gravity: what then could the deportees take with them to secure a livelihood in the places where they planned to settle after leaving Spanish soil? They almost certainly took commodities with them in addition to objects and merchandise which they could sell and trade to make a living, such as textiles, silk, manuscripts, and household articles. They were also able to buy notes of exchange with their money, as we shall see below. Here we are concerned with those exiles who were found guilty of smuggling, mainly silver, gold, coins, and jewels—articles whose export from Spain was forbidden but which it was possible to smuggle out. Let us not forget that they needed resources on the way as well, to pay both the transit taxes and the entrance fee into Portugal. Anyone who liquidated his property for money found it necessary, as noted, to take cash with him on the way, thereby running the risk of being robbed. Moreover, he had to make contact with a reliable smuggler to help him spirit his money across the borders of the kingdom.