 On 8 January 1614, in the year following his return from Spain, Torquemada was elected provincial of the province of the Holy Gospel ("del Santo Evangelio de México") a post he held for the usual three-year term until the election of a successor on 14 January 1617.At that time the province of the Holy Gospel comprised México City, the modern State of México, and the State of Puebla, together with the "custodia" of Tampico on the Gulf Coast.In an ongoing dispute over the division of elective posts within the province conducted between the "criollos" (ethnic Spaniards born in New Spain) and the "peninsulares" (those born in Spain but who had emigrated to New Spain), Torquemada identified himself not as a peninsular (which he could justly claim to be) but as a member of an intermediate group of men who came out to New Spain in their childhood and regarded themselves as "hijos de la provincia" (sons of the province).