The Intendancy of San Salvador was an administrative division of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, itself an administrative division of the Viceroyalty of New Spain which was a part of the Spanish Empire.

The Captaincy General of Guatemala, also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala, was an administrative division of the Spanish Empire, under the viceroyalty of New Spain in Central America, including the present-day nations of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, and the Mexican state of Chiapas. The governor-captain general was also president of the Royal Audiencia of Guatemala, the superior court.