Spanish Brazilians

Spanish Brazilians
*Hispano-brasileiros*
*Hispano-brasileños*
	; Spanish descendant in São Paulo.
Total population
	c. 15 million; 8% of the population (2008)
Regions with significant populations
	Mainly Southeastern Brazil ; (particularly São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro)
Languages
	Iberian Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Other Spanish languages
Religion
	Roman Catholicism, some Protestantism
Related ethnic groups
	White Brazilians ; Other Brazilians ;

Last updated March 09, 2024

Spanish Brazilians are Brazilians of full or partial Spanish ancestry.

Spanish immigration was the third largest among immigrant groups in Brazil; about 750,000 immigrants entered Brazil from Spanish ports.^[2] How many Spaniards came to Brazil before independence are unknown. Brazilian censuses do not research "ethnic origins" or ancestry, which makes it very difficult to give accurate numbers of Brazilians of Spanish descent. Brazilians of Spanish descent can be estimated as being 1.5 million people in the 6 main metropolitan areas (around 5% of their total population in 1998) ^[3] or 10 and 15 million in the whole country, according to Brazilian media and the Spanish government respectively.^[4]^[1]

History

Colonial Brazil

More than half of modern Brazil's territory was attributed to Spain by the Treaty of Tordesillas. However, Spain was unable to settle that region.

During the dynastic union between Portugal and Spain (1580–1640), many Spaniards settled in Brazil, particularly in São Paulo. As a consequence, there are a large number of Brazilian descendants of these early settlers, especially since the early inhabitants of São Paulo explored and settled in other parts of Brazil. The descendants of Bartolomeu Bueno de Ribeira, born in Seville around 1555, who settled in São Paulo around 1583, marrying Maria Pires, are an example of this.^[5] Afonso Taunay, in his book dealing with early São Paulo, São Paulo in the XVI century , mentions also Baltazar de Godoy, Francisco de Saavedra, Jusepe de Camargo, Martin Fernandes Tenório de Aguilar, Bartolomeu de Quadros, among others. In his genealogical account of the settling of São Paulo, Pedro Taques de Almeida Paes Leme, also mentions the three Rendon brothers, Juan Matheus Rendon, Francisco Rendon de Quebedo and Pedro Matheus Rendon Cabeza de Vaca, as well as Diogo Lara, from Zamora. Spaniards from Galicia also settled in Brazil during that time, like Jorge de Barros, for example.^[6] The family names Bueno, Godoy, Lara, Saavedra, Camargo, etc., tracing back to these early settlers, are quite popular throughout Southeast Brazil, Southern Brazil and the Center-West. Silva Leme, in his work Genealogia Paulistana ("Paulistana Genealogy"), addresses several of these families.^[7]

The expansion of Portuguese-Brazilian settlements into Spanish-claimed territory was a long and gradual process, which took the form of Portuguese-Brazilian expeditions and settlements led by the Bandeirantes. Except for the Missions, no Spanish settlements actually existed in the territory of future Brazil by the middle of the 18th century, when most of it was under Portuguese control. This de facto control was legally recognized in 1750 when sovereignty over the vast area – including the Missions – was transferred from Spain to Portugal by the Treaty of Madrid.^[8]^[9]

While there is no historic evidence of Spanish settlements in the area that is now Rio Grande do Sul^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11] (other than São Gabriel, founded in 1800 and stormed by the Brazilian/Portuguese in 1801), some genetic research conducted on southern Brazilian gaúchos suggests that they may be mostly descended from mixed indigenous and Spanish ancestry rather than from Portuguese and indigenous ancestry.^[12] The study itself cautions that there may be difficulties with its identification of the respective Iberian (Portuguese and Spanish) contributions to the gaúcho population of southern Brazil (some caution is warranted because differentiation between Iberian Peninsula populations, as well as between them and their derived Latin American populations, at the Y-chromosome level, was not observed in other investigations).^[12]

Immigration

Spanish emigration to South America peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it was concentrated to Argentina and Cuba. Between 1882 and 1930, 3,297,312 Spaniards emigrated, of whom 1,594,622 went to Argentina and 1,118,960 went to Cuba.^[13] Brazil only started to be an important destination for immigrants from Spain in the 1880s, and the country received the third largest number of immigrants from that country, after Argentina and Cuba.^[13]

It is estimated that approximately 750,000 Spaniards have immigrated to Brazil since Brazil's independence in 1822. This figure represents between 12.5% and 14% of all foreigners entering Brazil since its independence and puts the Spaniards in the third place among immigrant nationalities in Brazil, but it possibly includes Portuguese emigrating on false Spanish passports, or Galicians who, while Spanish citizens, spoke a language similar to Portuguese; in fact, Portuguese immigrants in Rio de Janeiro are popularly known as galegos (Galicians).^[14] Spanish immigrants were among those who had a higher rate of permanent residence in Brazil, overtaken by the Japanese but above nationalities such as Portuguese, Italian or German.^{[ citation needed ]} This may be due to the large number of families traveling with passage paid by the Brazilian government that left their native Spain to work on coffee plantations of the state of São Paulo.^{[ citation needed ]} Most Spanish immigrants entered Brazil between 1880 and 1930, with the peak period between 1905 and 1919, when their annual entrances overcame those of Italians.^[2]

Origins and destinations

In the state of São Paulo, destination of the majority of Spanish immigrants (about 75% of the total), 60% were from Andalusia,^[13] had their travel by ship paid by the Brazilian government, emigrated in families and were taken to the coffee farms to replace African slave manpower.

Spanish Immigration to São Paulo - Percentage by Region^[15]
Region	1893-1902	1903-1912	1913-1922
Andalusia	43,6	53%	50%
Aragon	0,8%	2,0%	1,4%
Asturias	1,1%	0,4%	0,7%
Balearic Islands	0,2%	0,4%	0,3%
Basque Country	2,9%	1,0%	1,0%
Canary Islands	2,0%	0,7%	0,3%
Cantabria	0,3%	0,1%	0,2%
Castille and León	10,4%	12%	10,6%
Castile-La Mancha	1,1%	1,2%	3,0%
Catalonia	6,9%	2,3%	1,8%
Extremadura	0,7%	1,2%	6,2%
Galicia	22,6%	14,5%	10,3%
Madrid	1,9%	0,7%	0,7%
Murcia	0,7%	5,2%	8,5%
Navarra	1,3%	2,0%	0,9%
Valencia	2,1%	1,9%	1,8%
La Rioja	0,7%	0,6%	0,9%
Others	0,7%	0,8%	1,4%

After São Paulo, the second largest contingent came to Rio de Janeiro, while other states such as Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, Mato Grosso, Pará and Bahia received smaller groups. In all those states, immigrants from Galicia were the vast majority, at about 80%, and those were predominantly males who emigrated alone, settled in urban centers and paid for their travel by ship.^[13] Galician smallholders settled mainly in urban areas of Brazil. Starting in the early 20th century, most Spanish immigrants were Andalusian peasants who worked in the coffee plantations, mainly in rural areas of São Paulo State.^[16]^[17]

Spaniards in São Paulo City
Year	Percentage of the City
1900	12%^[18]
1920	4,3%^[15]

The profile of the Spanish immigrants during the period 1908–26 shows that 82.7% immigrated in families, 81.4% were farmers, only 2.2% were artisans or skilled workers and 16.3% were in category of "others"^{[ citation needed ]}. These data reflect that Spanish immigration was not very diversified and qualified and had a low mobility since it was subsidized by the Brazilian Government, so immigrants were not free to decide where to work. In this way, the vast majority of those who came to São Paulo were directly taken to the coffee farms without having the opportunity to settle rural communities as land owners, or work in urban jobs^{[ citation needed ]}.

The Galegos

In Northeastern Brazil, people with light or blue eyes or light colored hair are often called galegos (Galicians), even if not of Galician descent, probably explained due to the fact Galicians came to Brazil among Portuguese colonizers. In Rio de Janeiro, the Galician immigrants were so present that Iberian and Portuguese immigrants were referred to as galegos.^[14]^[19]

Numbers of immigrants

Spanish immigration to Brazil
Period
1884–1893	1894–1903	1904–1913	1914–1923	1924–1933	1945–1949	1950–1954	1955–1959
113,116	102,142	224,672	94,779	52,405	40,092	53,357	38,819
Source: (IBGE)^[20]

Education

There is one Spanish international school in Brazil, Colégio Miguel de Cervantes in São Paulo.

Related Research Articles

São Paulo is the most populous city in Brazil and the capital of the state of São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as an alpha global city, São Paulo is the most populous city outside of Asia and the world's 20th-largest city proper by population. Additionally, São Paulo is the largest Portuguese-speaking city in the world. It exerts strong international influences in commerce, finance, arts, and entertainment. The city's name honors the Apostle, Saint Paul of Tarsus. The city's metropolitan area, the Greater São Paulo, ranks as the most populous in Brazil and the 12th-most-populous on Earth. The process of conurbation between the metropolitan areas around the Greater São Paulo created the São Paulo Macrometropolis, a megalopolis with more than 30 million inhabitants, one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world.

Japanese Brazilians are Brazilian citizens who are nationals or naturals of Japanese ancestry or Japanese immigrants living in Brazil or Japanese people of Brazilian ancestry.

German Brazilians refers to Brazilians of full or partial German ancestry. German Brazilians live mostly in the country's South Region, with a smaller but still significant percentage living in Southeast Region.

Immigration to Brazil is the movement to Brazil of foreign peoples to reside permanently. It should not be confused with the forcible bringing of people from Africa as slaves. Latin Europe accounted for four-fifths of the arrivals. This engendered a strikingly multicultural society. Yet over a few generations, Brazil absorbed these new populations in a manner that resembles the experience of the rest of the New World.

Portuguese Brazilians are Brazilian citizens whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Portugal. Most of the Portuguese who arrived throughout the centuries in Brazil sought economic opportunities. Although present since the onset of the colonization, Portuguese people began migrating to Brazil in larger numbers and without state support in the 18th century.

Portuguese is the official and national language of Brazil being widely spoken by most of the population. Brazil is the most populous Portuguese-speaking country in the world, with its lands comprising the majority of Portugal’s former colonial holdings in the Americas.

White Brazilians refers to Brazilian citizens who are considered or self-identify as "white", typically because of European or Levantine ancestry from Lebanon and Syria.

Czech Brazilians refer to Brazilians of Czech descent who were born in or who trace their ancestry to the territory of the historic Czech lands or succession states, now known as the Czech Republic, and are residents and/or citizens of Brazil.

Brazilians are the citizens of Brazil. A Brazilian can also be a person born abroad to a Brazilian parent or legal guardian as well as a person who acquired Brazilian citizenship. Brazil is a multiethnic society, which means that it is home to people of many ethnic origins, and there is no correlation between one's stock and their Brazilian identity.

Brazilian society is made up of a confluence of people of Indigenous, Portuguese, and African descent. Other major significant groups include Italians, Spaniards, Germans, Lebanese, and Japanese.

Dutch Brazilians refers to Brazilians of full or partial Dutch ancestry. Dutch Brazilians are mainly descendants of immigrants from the Netherlands.

Nordic Brazilians refers to Brazilians of full or partial Nordic ancestry, or Nordic-born people residing in Brazil.

Brazil had an official resident population of 203 million in 2022, according to IBGE. Brazil is the seventh most populous country in the world, and the second most populous in the Americas and Western Hemisphere.

Bolivians in Brazil are individuals of full, partial, or predominantly Bolivian ancestry, or a Bolivian-born person residing in Brazil. The governments of Bolivia and Brazil have begun to develop an agreement to regularize the situation of several thousand undocumented Bolivian immigrants in Brazil. According to estimates by the Ministry's of Latin American immigrants and the National Association of Immigrants from Brazil more than 200,000 Bolivians are working illegally in São Paulo.

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Spanish emigration peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it was concentrated to Argentina, Uruguay and Cuba. Between 1882 and 1930, 3,297,312 Spaniards emigrated, of whom 1,594,622 went to Argentina and 1,118,960 went to Cuba. Brazil only started to be an important destination for immigrants from Spain in the 1880s, but the country received the third largest number of Spanish emigrants, behind only the two aforementioned countries. Spaniards also made up the third largest national group to immigrate to Brazil, after the Italians and Portuguese.

The Spanish diaspora consists of Spanish people and their descendants who emigrated from Spain. In the Americas, the term may refer to those of Spanish nationality living there; "Hispanic" is usually a more appropriate term to describe the general Spanish-speaking populations of the Americas together with those in Spain. The diaspora is concentrated in places that were part of the Spanish Empire. Countries with sizeable populations are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and, to a lesser extent, Brazil, Belize, Haiti, United States, Canada, the Philippines and the rest of Europe.

Italian Brazilians are Brazilians of full or partial Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Brazil during the Italian diaspora, or more recent Italian-born people who've settled in Brazil. Italian Brazilians are the largest number of people with full or partial Italian ancestry outside Italy, with São Paulo being the most populous city with Italian ancestry in the world. Nowadays, it is possible to find millions of descendants of Italians, from the southeastern state of Minas Gerais to the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, with the majority living in São Paulo state. Small southern Brazilian towns, such as Nova Veneza, have as much as 95% of their population of Italian descent.

Miss Brazil World 2011 was the 22nd edition of the Miss Brazil World pageant and 6th under MMB Productions & Events. The contest took place on August 13, 2011. Each state, the Federal District and various Insular Regions competed for the title. Kamilla Salgado of Pará crowned Juceila Bueno of Rio Grande do Sul at the end of the contest. Bueno represented Brazil at Miss World 2011. The contest was held at the Hotel do Frade in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Miss Brazil World 2012 was the 23rd edition of the Miss Brazil World pageant and 7th under MMB Productions & Events. The contest took place on April 2, 2012. Representatives from various cities all throughout Brazil competed for the Brazilian crown for Miss World. Juceila Bueno of Rio Grande do Sul crowned Mariana Notarângelo of Rio de Janeiro at the end of the contest. Notarângelo represented Brazil at Miss World 2012. The contest was held at the Rede Pampa Studios in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

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