España
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Spaniards in Argentina
Spaniards in Argentina
Españoles en Argentina
The numbers speak volumes regarding the massive presence of Spanish immigrants in Argentina. In total, in the half century from 1880 to 1930, two million Spaniards arrived in the country, of which 60% (1.2 million) stayed to live permanently. The numbers simply come to ratify something that is seen daily: the proximity is such that at some point we are all a bit Spanish. If it is not by direct connection, there is a friend, a neighbor, a merchant or a co-worker who inherits the Spanish tradition and makes it everyday. So much so that even the Argentine national anthem was modified as a gesture of brotherhood with the Spanish community.
Although the Spanish presence in the national territory dates back to the time of the conquest of America and the subsequent extensive colonial period, here we will dedicate ourselves mainly(but not only) to the immigrants who arrived in Argentina during, approximately, the second half from the 19th century and the first from the 20th. In that period of more than one hundred years, many Spaniards came to the country in search of opportunities for personal and family growth, pushed by demographic pressure and by the precarious economic and social situation they experienced in their regions of origin. Others, on the other hand, sought refuge from political persecution, as was the case with the republican exiles of the Spanish Civil War.
In general, the choice of Argentina as a migratory destination was related not only to the typical economic variables, most of the Spaniards who arrived in the country were literate. Almost 70% of those who were established in 1914 were reader-writers, a figure makes even more sense when compared with the level of literacy of the two largest national groups, Italians and Argentines, which barely exceeded the 60%. Many brought, in addition to that important cultural tool, a trade or profession. Indeed, although the majority were of peasant origin and declared that they did not have a trade, we know that among them there were many farmers and day laborers, as well as carpenters, stonemasons, shoemakers, sailors, plowmen and stevedores.
It is curious that, despite this mostly rural origin, in 1914, 73% of Spaniards living in the country were living in urban areas. Also curious is the fact that the most widespread work activities within the members of this community have been those related to small businesses and the service sector. Historians explain professional change as a consequence of the "chain" type of migration, a mechanism by which those immigrants already successfully established in Argentina attracted countrymen and relatives and placed them in the same job category in which they worked. In the interior, the Spanish engaged in commercial exchange in areas of the rural border, either by opening and running grocery stores or by selling products to the aborigines and rural laborers on an itinerant basis. A differential characteristic between the Spanish and the other majority community (the Italian one) was the preponderance of the arrival of already constituted family groups, a trait that helped to reduce the high masculinity index.
Almost all regions of the peninsula contributed large numbers. Those that predominated were Andalusia, Asturias, Catalonia, the Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Navarra and the Basque Country. But the majority flow of Spanish immigrants came from Galicia (more than 50% of the total), a fact that has determined that Spaniards residing in the country are known by the gentilicio "Gallegos".
"SHURMANOS AMBICIONAD"
Originally Posted by Creoda
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