Why Catalans never settled in the Americas?

[Zuh]

Porque?

[Daven]

Claro que sí. De hecho en mi país hay par de figuras de ascendendencia catalana reconocida. Uno de ellos fue presidente de la república.

[Zuh]

Claro que sí. De hecho en mi país hay par de figuras de ascendendencia catalana reconocida. Uno de ellos fue presidente de la república.

Really? In Mexico those surnames are rare with Mexico it was mainly South-Central Spanish that migrated

[Daven]

Really? In Mexico those surnames are rare with Mexico it was mainly South-Central Spanish that migrated

Por lo menos se de par de figuras históricas con esas ascendencias. No se trata de que fue una inmigración súper significativa y no creo que lo haya sido.

[Colonel Frank Grimes]

The colonies were seen by the state as a Castillian possession. You don't see immigration from Catalunya to the colonies until the mid 1760s when trade to the colonies was open up to other ports in Spain. Even then immigration from Catalunya was small and mainly merchants and skilled artisans. You do see a more significant migration of Catalans to Cuba in the 19th century because of the Catalan role in the sugar industry. This is why Catalan surnames (Cugat, Bosh, Masvidal (UFC fighter), etc.) are far more common among Cubans than other Latin Americans.

[BirdMan]

As Daven mentioned, there was a decent amount of Catalan settlement in the Caribbean. Many Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans I know have Catalan surnames.

It's hard to find detailed statistics, but I found this article: "LA EMIGRACIÓN ESPAÑOLA A AMERICA LATINA DURANTE LA ÉPOCA DEL COMERCIO LIBRE (1765- 1820): EL EJEMPLO CATALÁN"

According to the data in that study, 20% of Catalan emigrants went to Puerto Rico and 12% went to Havana.

Of course, that is only for the time period 1765-1820 and the patterns may have changed over time. But after 1820, Cuba and Puerto Rico stayed part of Spain so the proportion might actually have increased.

Also, I'm not sure if your question is referring just to people from Catalonia, but there were also many Catalan speaking migrants from the Balearic islands. I have ancestry from Mallorca, as does the previous governor Roselló.

[alnortedelsur]

Also, I'm not sure if your question is referring just to people from Catalonia, but there were also many Catalan speaking migrants from the Balearic islands. I have ancestry from Mallorca, as does the previous governor Roselló.

Do you have ancestry from Mallorca?

That's cool! I also have Mallorcan ancestry. My Spanish mom is from Mallorca, and most of her ancestry is genuinely Mallorcan.

[samario]

Catalan surnames are very distinctive, as opposed to Basque surnames which are far more common but they did settle. One of my city's most prominent families is of Catalan origin: Vives. Shakira herself is part Catalan, too: Ripoll, both fairly common surnames. Again, I don't think Catalan surnames are all that common to be honest, but they did settle. Barceló is another popular surname.

Catalan presence also took its toll on the region's cuisine as seen in Soledad, Atlantico where butifarras are part of the local cuisine and a popular tradition.

They were seafarers and merchants in my region during colonial times. Took control over sea trade.

[HelloGuys]

Que yo sepa yo no tengo nada de ancestría de Cataluña, ni nadie que conozca...la ancestría que tengo (Y que sé) es de Castilla, Andalucía, Extremadura y Vasco/Navarro (Anque sospecho que también tengo de Galicia)...no niego que estaría cool tener ancestría de otros lados como Cataluña y de las Islas Baleares por ejemplo

[AlfonsoVIII]

La conquista y colonización de América fue una empresa exclusiva de la Corona de Castilla. Esto significa que hasta el año 1718 quedaban totalmente excluidos de la participación americana los súbditos de la antigua Corona de Aragón, es decir catalanes, valencianos, aragoneses y baleares.

A partir del año 1718 la dinastía Borbón unifica totalmente ambas coronas españolas y por tanto catalanes, valencianos, aragoneses y baleares comienzan a partir de entonces a participar en la colonización de América, aunque de una manera más tímida que los castellanos y leoneses. Básicamente algunos catalanes y valencianos se asentaron en Cuba, Puerto Rico y Santo Domingo, la cosa no fue mucho más allá. Tras la independencia hubo también cierta emigración hacia América, pero no tanta como la de otros grupos españoles.

El haber vivido durante dos siglos "privados" de América explica la carencia de catalanes, así como de valencianos, aragoneses y mallorquines, en América.