In the agitated history of Mexico the "hacienda" (plantation) played a fundamental role. The 16th and 17th centuries give way to a great economic period -the production of silver- this is when many of the haciendas begin as a result of the distribution of land by the Spaniards. Families and bloodlines were the true owners and they imposed a new style of life. In the beginning of this century there were around 8,000 haciendas all over the country. The Porfirian period favored this system until the oncoming of the Revolution which achieved its desintegration with the Agrarian Reform which took place during the thirties. The owners were left only with the buildings of the haciendas and a small part of the surrounding land, thus losing their irrigation systems, machinery and cattle so that many were abandoned and others were reduced to simple ranches or country homes. In the majority of the cases they were ransacked which forced a change in their use -as hotels, restaurants, schools, government office buildings, amongst others.