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I ask this question because I live in the North East where there's a very large Latino presence, mostly Dominicans. Puerto Ricans use to be the largest group, but they've been eclipsed. There's also a sizable Central American presence and a lot of Columbians in certain pockets.
The thing I find bewildering is that all these people tend to be called "Spanish". For example, if you see a sign saying Spanish food, 9 times out of 10 it will be everything BUT REAL Spanish food. I get it. all these places were former Spanish colonies, but you don't see Jamaicans advertising as "English food". I just find it bizarre and wonder how do ACTUAL Spaniards feel about this? How do you feel about people like Dominicans, Nicaraguans and Mexicans claiming "Spanish" identity? I mean, I'm American and I know I have English ancestry, I even know where they came from. But even though more than 90% of my ancestry is from England and Scotland, I don't consider myself "British", let alone if I had substantial African and Amerindian and god knows whatever else in my background, not to mention being born in an entirely different country with a distinctly different culture. What are your thoughts? Do Spaniards in general feel a sense of kinship with all these nationalities, or just a sense of nostalgia due to colonial times?
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