Argentina

Spanish settlement in Argentina

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Spanish Argentine
Hispano Argentino

Notable Spanish-Argentines José de San Martín · Manuel Belgrano · Isabel Perón Raúl Alfonsín · Libertad Lamarque · Cecilia Mendez
Total population
undefined est 25,000,000 (Including whose mixed with other ancestries) Difficult to measure because the vast majority of Argentines have some Spanish ancestry.
Regions with significant populations
Argentina
Languages
Rioplatense Spanish. Minority speaks Galician, Catalan, and Basque.
Religion
Predominantly 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 in the period before Argentina's independence from Spain and again in large numbers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the height of the Spanish Empire, Spain was the sole colonial power in Argentina up to the 1816 declaration of Argentine independence. And so, before 1816, almost all European settlers in Argentina were from Spain, relating to religious affairs, government, and commercial business. A substantial Spanish population gradually built up in the new cities, with some mixing with the indigenous populations, and later, with other Spanish and European immigrants.

Since most immigrants to Argentina before the 20th century were of Spanish descent, and the fact that over half of the 20th century immigrants to Argentina were of Spanish descent- coming from all over Spain, the vast majority of Argentinians are of mostly Spanish ancestry. Furthermore, ever since Argentina declared independence from Spain and on to the present day, criollo Spaniards from all over Spanish-colonized Latin America have emigrated to Argentina for economic opportunity- further contributing to Argentina's unique Spanish heritage. Although most Argentines have Spanish blood, and Argentina and Spain continue to share many common cultural aspects (the Spanish language, the religion of Roman Catholicism, and criollo traditions), some Argentine elites and recent European immigrants diminished the Spanish culture from Argentina as a newly independent country, and created an entirely new culture- modern Argentine culture. But the legacy of past Spanish culture, colonialism, and immigration pervades Argentina to this day.

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, with Buenos Aires formally declaring independence from Spain on July 9, 1816. 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

During the 19th and 20th centuries, there would be an influx of Spanish immigrants to Argentina from all over Spain, after the creation of the modern Argentinian state. Between 1857 and 1940, more than 2 million Spanish people emigrated to Argentina, mostly from Galicia, Basque Country, Asturias, Cantabria, Catalonia in northern Spain, and also from Andalusia in southern Spain.

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

Also, around 10% of the Argentine population descend from Basque people, both Spanish and French, and are described as Basque Argentines. They gather in several Basque cultural centres installed in most large cities in the country.

Modern times

While there continues to be interest among the population in European affairs and their European heritage, few Argentines seeks to imitate or spread modern Spanish culture throughout Argentina.

While a sense of Argentine culture is very strong throughout the country, there do remain some cultural differences between the porteños of Buenos Aires, and the rest of the old, more traditional Argentina going back to the founding of Argentina as an independent nation.

Figures

References

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

See also

• Criollo people
• Argentine-Spanish relations
• History of argentine nationality
• White Latin Americans