Spanish Uruguayans
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| Roman Catholicism · Others | |
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Spanish settlement in Uruguay, that is the arrival of Spanish emigrants in the country known today as Uruguay, took place firstly in the period before independence from Spain and again in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This includes that a large proportion of Uruguayans are of Spanish ancestral origin.
History
Settlement
Between the 15th and early 19th centuries, the
Spanish settlement along with the Italians, formed the backbone of today's Uruguayan society. Like its neighbour country Argentina, the culture of Uruguay exhibits significant connections to Spanish culture; in terms of language, customs and traditions.
Many
Origin of settlers
The Spanish immigrants arriving between 18th and 20th century have different origins, but a significant number of them are from the Canary Islands, Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country.
Basque Country
There was a sizable inflow of
Canary Islands
The first Canarian migrants arrived in Uruguay in 1724 and settled themselves around a small fort built by order of Bruno Mauricio de Zabalatwo, the Spanish governor of
Two years later, in November 1726, 25 Canarian families arrived. They organised themselves quickly upon their arrival and made substantial contributions to the development of Montevideo. Apart from naming streets and places of the settlement, they also founded the local civil government, allowing Montevideo to gain the status of city in the same year.
Another wave of Canarian settlers consisted of 30 families arrived in Montevideo on 27 March 1729, joined by a few families from Buenos Aires.
The next wave of Canarian migration did not happen until at least 1808, when the Canarian merchant
The majority of around 8,200 arrived in the South American country between 1835 and 1845, constituting 17% of all migrants and 65% of Spanish migrants. However, only 5,749 remained in Uruguay by the end of the 19th century. During this century, Canarians went beyond Montevideo and settled in other parts of the country, namely Maldonado, Canelones, Colonia, San José and Soriano.
Although the specific number of Canarians arriving in Uruguay during the 20th century is not known, it was probably not too large, but enough for specific Canarian organisations to form in the country.
Nowadays, Canarians and their descendants are scattered around the country.
Catalonia
Recent data
The 2011 Uruguayan census revealed 12,776 people who declared Spain as their country of birth.[1] Thousands of Uruguayan nationals are holders of Spanish passports.[2]
See also
- Uruguayan people
- Criollo people
- Spain-Uruguay relations
- White Latin Americans
- Spanish colonization of the Americas
Bibliography
- Goebel, Michael. "Gauchos, Gringos and Gallegos: The Assimilation of Italian and Spanish Immigrants in the Making of Modern Uruguay 1880–1930," Past and Present (August 2010) 208(1): 191–229
References
- ^ "Immigration to Uruguay" (PDF). INE. Retrieved 6 March 2013. (in Spanish)
- ^ Censo electoral de españoles residentes en el extranjero 2009 Archived 27 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
External links
- Pi Hugarte, Renzo; Vidart, Daniel (1970). El legado de los inmigrantes (PDF). Montevideo: Nuestra Tierra. (in Spanish)
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