On 18 June 1884, Rafael Zaldívar, President of El Salvador and one of the most decisive figures in 19th-century Central American history, arrived at the Hotel de la Paz.
The reception was official in character. An infantry battalion rendered honours at the station and the royal escort accompanied his entourage to our hotel. He was travelling with his son, the diplomat José María Torres Caicedo and other members of his retinue.
That same afternoon, Alfonso XII came in person to the Hotel de la Paz to visit him. An hour later, Zaldívar returned the visit at the Royal Palace, and later it was Antonio Cánovas del Castillo who came to the establishment to pay his respects.
During his stay in Madrid, Alfonso XII gave a banquet in his honour and awarded him the Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III. Zaldívar was also received at the Royal Spanish Academy.
A physician and diplomat before reaching the presidency, he governed El Salvador for almost a decade. His administration modernised institutions and promoted education and coffee growing, although his agrarian reforms also led to the disappearance of much of the indigenous communal land and left a deeply controversial legacy.
