Spanish Argentine

Infobox Ethnic group
group = Spanish Argentine
"Hispano Argentino"


caption = Notable Spanish-Argentines
José de San Martín·Manuel Belgrano·Isabel Perón
Raúl Alfonsín·Javier Saviola·Libertad Lamarque
poptime = 25 million
popplace = Throughout Argentina
langs = Rioplatense Spanish. Minority speaks Galician, Catalan, and Basque.
rels = Predominantly Roman Catholicism
related = 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.

Spain was the colonial power in Argentina before the 1816 declaration of Argentine independence. Before 1816 almost all European settlers in Argentina were from Spain, relating to religious, government and commercial business. A substantial Spanish population built up in the new cities, and mixed with the indigenous populations.

Between 1857 and 1940 more than 2 million Spanish people emigrated to Argentina, mostly from Galicia, Basque Country, Asturias, Cantabria, and Catalonia in northern Spain, and also from Andalusia in southern Spain.

Today, 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.

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. Galicians make up 70% of the Spanish population in Argentina.

Although many Argentines have Spanish blood and because Argentina and Spain share common cultural aspects (the language, religion which is Roman Catholic Christianity, and traditions), Argentine elites diminished the Spanish culture from their culture in the newly independent country and made Argentine culture. Spanish settlement dates back to 1500s and from that, many Spaniards intermarried with non-Spaniards. This is because 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. A few generations after independence, all began to see themselves as purely Argentine. Today they do not emphasize connections with Spain or interest towards their Spanish ancestry and the great influence their ancestors had in the national culture. To keep a separate Spanish identity in Argentina is impossible, for having a Spanish-Argentine identity is synonymous to simply being Argentine because Argentine culture was mostly derived from Spanish culture. This is like many Brazilians of Portuguese descent who will never consider themselves as Portuguese but as simply “Brazilians”.

References

* [http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1990/1/90.01.06.x.html Immigration to Argentina-Report-Yale]
* [http://www.cdtradition.net/historical-references.php Galicians in Argentina]
* [http://www.juandegaray.org.ar/fvajg/portadas/inicio Basque Heritage in Argentina] es icon