Pedro Sánchez de Mathos[a] (c. 1635[1] - c. 1705) was the first municipal magistrate of Ponce, Puerto Rico, in 1692.
[6] The difficulty of crossing the Cordillera Central, sometimes taking as long as 37 days,[7] created unique challenges for the Spanish-appointed authorities in San Juan to govern over the entire island.
To reign in the growing influence from San German and maintain control over the entire island, in 1678-1683, Governor Juan Robles de Lorenzana attempted to establish additional administrative units, called partidos, carving some of them, including the one for Ponce, out of the San German jurisdiction.
The plan was unsuccessful, as the governor's term came to a close and no one was interested in serving as the head of such new Partido de Ponce.
[8] In 1690, a new governor, Gaspar de Arredondo y Valle, sent a letter the Real Audiencia of the Indies in Santo Domingo where he proposed the creation of five new administrative units, including one in Ponce.