Spanish immigration to Argentina

Spanish Argentines
Hispano argentinos

Total population
(Difficult to measure as many Argentines have at least some Spanish ancestry.)
Regions with significant populations
Throughout Argentina
Languages
Rioplatense Spanish. Minority speaks Galician, Catalan, and Basque.
Religion
Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Spanish, Galicians, Castilians, Catalans, Asturians, Cantabrians, Aragonese, Basques

Spanish settlement in Argentina, that is the arrival of Spanish emigrants in Argentina, took place firstly in the period before Argentina's independence from Spain, and again in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, the Spanish Empire was the sole colonial power in the territories that became Argentina after the 1816 Argentine declaration of independence. Thus, before 1850, a great part of the European settlers in Argentina were from Spain, and they carried the Spanish colonial administration, including religious affairs, government, and commercial business. A substantial Spanish-descended Criollo population gradually built up in the new cities, while some mixed with the indigenous populations (Mestizos), with the Black slave population (Mulattoes), or with other European immigrants.

Since a great part of the immigrants to Argentina before the mid-19th century were of Spanish descent, and the fact that a significative part of the late-19th century/early-20th century immigrants to Argentina were Spaniards, the large majority of Argentines are of at least part Spanish ancestry. Indeed, the 20 most common surnames in Argentina are Spanish. However this prevalence, and the numerous shared cultural aspects between Argentina and Spain (the Spanish language, Roman Catholicism, Criollo/Hispanic traditions) has been mitigated by massive Immigration to Argentina at the turn of the 20th century involving an overall majority of non-Spanish peoples from all over Europe. This has led to a hybrid Argentine culture which is among the most distinct from traditional Spanish culture in Latin America. Furthermore, a large proportion of Spanish immigration to Argentina during the 20th century, was from the North Western region of Galicia, which has a separate language and distinct culture from other parts of Spain.

History

The interplay between Argentine and Spanish culture goes back a long way, and has historically been quite complex. Spanish settlements date back to 16th century, and from then on, many criollo Spaniards would populate the area of Argentina, with some intermarrying with non-Spaniards. Spain established a permanent colony on the site of Buenos Aires in 1580, although initial settlement was primarily overland from Peru. The Spanish further integrated Argentina into their vast empire by establishing the Vice Royalty of Rio de la Plata in 1776, and Buenos Aires became a flourishing port. Argentina would ]]become a crucial part of the Spanish Empire in South America.

The Argentine independence movement would however drastically change Argentine-Spanish relations. The Argentine movement for independence from Spain would in fact begin in the powerful city of Buenos Aires on May 25, 1810, and the whole new country formally declaring independence from Spain on July 9, 1816 in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán. Following the defeat of the Spanish, centralist and federalist groups waged a lengthy conflict between themselves to determine the future of the nation of Argentina. Prior to its independence, Spaniards in Argentina who were against the Spanish Empire and desired their independence came to be known as Argentines, and those who were opposed to independence continued to be identified as Spaniards. But a few generations after independence, and particularly after recent immigration, most Argentines began to see themselves as purely Argentine out of pride in their new developing nation.

Recent immigration

Percentage of Spanish immigrants in the provinces and territories of Argentina, according to the 1914 Argentine census

During the 19th and 20th centuries, there would be an influx of Spanish immigrants to Argentina from all over Spain during the Great European immigration wave to Argentina, after the creation of the modern Argentine state. Between 1857 and 1960, more than 2.5 million Spanish people emigrated to Argentina, mostly from Galicia, the Basque Country, Asturias, Cantabria, and Catalonia in northern Spain, while significantly smaller numbers of immigrants also arrived from Andalusia in southern Spain.

Galicians make up 70% of the Spanish immigrant population in Argentina. The city with the world's second largest number of Galician people is Buenos Aires, where immigration from Galicia was so profound that today all Spaniards, regardless of their origin within Spain, are referred to as gallegos (Galicians) in Argentina.

Roughly 10-15% of the Argentine population are descended from Basque people, both Spanish and French, and are described as Basque Argentines. They gather in several Basque cultural centres in most of the large cities in the country.

In 2013, there were 92.453 Spanish citizens born in Spain living in Argentina and another 288.494 Spanish citizens born in Argentina .^[1]

Modern times

While there continues to be strong interest among the population in European affairs and their European heritage, the Argentine culture today varies considerably from the Spanish just like the American or Australian cultures vary from the British.

Figures

Yale university report says 2,080,000 Spanish immigrants entered Argentina between 1857-1940. Spain forms 31.4% (Italy 44.9%) of all immigrants in that period.^[2]

Another report gives net migration data as follows:

Spanish net migration to Argentina from 1857 to 1976
Year period	Spanish immigrants
1857–1860	1,819
1861–1870	15,567
1871–1880	24,706
1881–1890	134,492
1891–1900	73,551
1901–1910	488,174
1911–1920	181,478
1921–1930	232,637
1931–1940	11,286
1941–1950	110,899
1951–1960	98,801
1961–1970	9,514
1971–1976	-2,784
Total	1,380,140

See also

• Argentina–Spain relations
• Criollo people
• History of Argentine nationality
• White Latin Americans

References

1. (Spanish)

External links

• Immigration to Argentina-Report-Yale
• Galicians in Argentina
• Basque Heritage in Argentina (Spanish)