How did conquest by the Spaniards affect communities in the yucatan peninsula?

Answer 1

Unlike the Aztec Empire, which was a centralized society with Mexico-Tenochtitlan as its capital, the Mayan peoples in the Yucatan peninsula were part of independent city-states. In order to conquer the peninsula, the Spaniards had to effectively conquer each and everyone of them. This means that the last Mayan stronghold fell in 1697.

Once they were conquered, most of them became part of the Novo-Spanish culture; depending on their previous status within the Mayan society, they would become peasants or part of the very few "Ellite Mayans" that kept a fair amount of wealth. The most prominent example of these is the Malinche or Malintzi, a Yucatec Mayan woman of Aztec ancestry who became the right hand of Hernan Cortes during his conquest of Mexico.