The Capture of Alhóndiga de Granaditas was a military action carried out in Guanajuato, viceroyalty of New Spain, on September 28, 1810, between the royalist soldiers of the province and the insurgents commanded by Miguel Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende.

The military in the viceroy's service continued the fight, until the insurgents managed to enter and then massacred not only the few guards that defended it, but also the numerous families of civilians who had taken refuge there.

The viceregal military men Ignacio Allende, Juan Aldama and Mariano Abasolo, opposed to ideas of independence, wanted a protectorate governed by the "legitimate" king of Spain, Ferdinand VII, but with freedom for its inhabitants.

The coup d'état was proposed for December 8, but was later postponed to October 2, the day of the San Juan de los Lagos fair where a large number of merchants and artisans would congregate.

Upon occupying Atotonilco, in the Bajío prairie, Hidalgo took a banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe, religious symbol of the inhabitants of the viceroyalty of New Spain that in the 16th century, after her apparition in Tepeyac, motivated the conversion to Catholicism of many indigenous people.

Manuel Abad y Queipo, bishop of Michoacán and another friend of Hidalgo, excommunicated him and all the insurgents by means of a papal bull of September 27.

Your Honor will be good enough to express these ideas to the Europeans who have gathered in that Alhóndiga, so that they may decide whether to declare themselves enemies or agree to remain as prisoners receiving humane and benign treatment, as those we are bringing in our company are experiencing, until the insinuated freedom and independence [sic?]

[5]Riaño was born in Liérganes, Santander (Spain), and was a man of the sea, as he participated in several naval battles and reached the rank of frigate captain.

In 1786, when Charles III dictated the ordinances for the proper functioning of the viceroyalty of New Spain, Riaño changed his title to lieutenant general and in 1795 he was appointed intendant of Guanajuato.

Upon receiving Hidalgo's letter, he refused to accept the request, claiming to be a soldier of the King of Spain and recognizing Viceroy Venegas as the only authority.

According to the official version, it was then when Juan José de los Reyes Martínez, a miner from La Valenciana famous for his strength and nicknamed El Pípila, asked Hidalgo for permission to set fire to the door of the Alhóndiga, which would allow the insurgents to enter it.

But Hidalgo decided to send Mariano Abasolo and Allende as emissaries on November 1 to negotiate with Venegas the peaceful surrender of the city to the rebel troops.

[8] The Capture of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas is commemorated every September 28 with a civic parade in which both students from the municipality's schools and local and state government officials participate.

In addition, on the 28th of each month, the ceremony of renewal of the "symbolic fire" of freedom takes place inside the Alhóndiga, with the participation of the Governor of the State and various invited personalities.