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. [1] 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. [1]
Between 1840 and 1849, only 10 Spaniards immigrated to Brazil; 180 did so between 1850 and 1859; 633 between 1860 and 1869; and 3,940 between 1870 and 1879. The number of arrivals increased significantly between 1880 and 1889, when 29,166 Spaniards arrived. [1] Spanish immigration to Brazil was a direct result of the efforts of the Brazilian government to attract European workers to the country, in order to “whiten” the Brazilian population and to replace the African manpower. [1] The Brazilian government spent large amounts of money paying passages of European immigrants by ship (subsidized immigration). A huge propaganda was conducted by the Brazilian government in Spain, with agents that worked for it (ganchos) who went to the country in order to persuade Spaniards to immigrate to Brazil. [1] The Brazilian government offered the free travel by ship to Brazil, and that was decisive in attracting immigrants. Brazil was a country far less attractive than Argentina and Cuba, countries with which the Spaniards maintained cultural relations. Moreover, the working conditions in Brazil were much worse. Thus, the Spaniards who emigrated to Brazil were those who could not afford to pay a passage by ship to Cuba and Argentina, the poorest ones, and took advantage of the offer of free travel to Brazil. For the wretched Spanish peasants, the free passage by ship offered by the Brazilian government seemed a great opportunity to leave poverty. [1]
The Spanish community was present in all São Paulo. [1] According to a 1933 research, the largest concentration of Spaniards was found in the region of Catanduva, Rio Preto, Araraquara, Santa Adélia etc., with 108,000 Spaniards. Next was the central part of the state in cities such as Campinas, Sorocaba, Itu and Jundiaí, with 28,000. Northwest São Paulo, in cities such as Bauru, Araçatuba and Marília had 45,000 Spaniards. This way, about 75% of the Spanish community in São Paulo was concentrated in the region of Araraquara and in the Northwest and in those areas the towns with most Spaniards were Tanabi, Mirassol, Nova Granada (named after the Spanish city of Granada), São José do Rio Preto and Olímpia. The city of São Paulo had 50,000 Spaniards. The 1913 census in Santos found a population of 8,343 Spaniards out of a population of 39,802 people. In 1931 there were 11,982 Spaniards in that city, out of a population of 125,941 people (or 9.51% of the total population). [1]
Reports that Spanish immigrants were living in appalling conditions in Brazil made Spain, in 1909, sent to Brazil the Inspector Gamboa Navarro in order to assess the situation of the Spaniards in the country. [1] Navarro made a report, which showed that employment contracts were "illusory", because they were not respected. In coffee plantations, he wrote that the immigrants slept on the floor and in tiny houses and also reported that the abuses in labour relations were frequent. He concluded that 98% of the Spaniards in Brazil would return to Spain if they could. Three weeks after the publication of that report, Spanish newspaper Gaceta de Madrid proposed a ban on Spanish emigration to Brazil. The newspapers remembered that Italy and Germany had already passed laws on the subject and that Portugal was trying to conduct its immigrants to other countries rather than Brazil. Finally, on August 26, 1910, Spain issued a royal decree prohibiting the free emigration to Brazil. The decree did not have any effect and, curiously, the Spanish immigration to Brazil peaked after it was issued. [1]
Other reports suggest that there was a thriving Spanish community in Brazil, particularly those who were able to leave the coffee plantations and to buy their own lands. [1]
It is estimated that since Brazil's independence (1822) some 750,000 Spaniards have entered Brazil. 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 immigrants in Brazil, behind the Portuguese and Italians. Immigrants of Spanish origin 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. 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. Most Spaniards entered Brazil between 1880 and 1930, with the peak period between 1905 and 1919, when they overcome the entry of Italians. [2]
In all Brazilian states, the immigrants from Galicia predominated, and those were predominantly males, who emigrated alone, settled in urban centers and paid for their passage by ship. [1] The only exception was the state of São Paulo, destination for the vast majority of the Spaniards, around 75% of the total. In São Paulo, 60% were from Andaluzia, and only 20% from Galicia. [1] Those had their passage by ship paid by the Brazilian government, emigrated in families and were taken to the coffee farms to replace the African slave manpower. In 1910 the penury faced by those emigrants in the coffee farms made the Spanish government to ban the free emigration by ship to Brazil. This act had little importance, because the emigrants, who were mostly from East Andaluzia, used to emigrate to Brazil though the Port of Gibraltar, between North Africa and Spain. The immigrants, attracted by the ganchos, used to leave their lands in Andaluzia and travel to Gibraltar in poor conditions. Once in Gibraltar they could take several days to take a ship to Brazil. Once in São Paulo, they were employed in coffee farms under terrible working conditions. [1]
The main area of destination for Spaniards was the state of São Paulo, although the percentages of attraction to this state vary between 66% and 78% in different sources. The second largest contingent was deployed in Rio de Janeiro, while other states such as Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, Mato Grosso, Pará and Bahia received smaller groups. Most Spaniards in Brazil came from the Galicia and Andalusia regions of Spain. 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. [3] [4]
The profile of the Spanish immigrants during the period 1908–26 shows that only 17.3% immigrated without the family, 81.4% were farmers, only 2.2% were artisans or skilled workers and 16.3% were in category of "others". These data reflect that the Spanish immigration was not very diversified and qualified and had a low mobility since it was subsidized by the Brazilian Government, then the 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.
One factor that contributed to the more rapid process of assimilation and acculturation of the community of Spanish origin in Brazil was, in addition to linguistic and cultural proximity (accentuated by the high presence of Galicians), the ease with which both Spanish men and women married Brazilians: 64.7% of Spanish men married Brazilian women and 47.2% of Spanish women married Brazilian men.
| Spanish immigration to Brazil Source: (IBGE) [5] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
There is one Spanish international school in Brazil, Colégio Miguel de Cervantes in São Paulo.
Paulistas are the inhabitants of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, and of its antecessor the Capitaincy of São Vicente, whose capital early shifted from the village of São Vicente to the one of São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga.
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. Japanese immigration to Brazil peaked between 1908 and 1960, with the highest concentration between 1926 and 1935. In 2022, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that there were 2 million Japanese descendants in Brazil, making it the country with the largest population of Japanese origin outside Japan. However, in terms of Japanese citizens, Brazil ranked seventh in 2023, with 46.9 thousand Japanese citizens. Most of the Japanese-descendant population in Brazil has been living in the country for three or more generations and most only hold Brazilian citizenship. Nikkei is the term used to refer to Japanese people and their descendants.
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.
Chinese Brazilians are Brazilians of Chinese ancestry or birth. The ethnic Chinese population in Brazil was estimated to be approximately 250,000 in 2007.
Spanish Brazilians are Brazilians of full or partial Spanish ancestry.
Isleños are the descendants of Canarian settlers and immigrants to present-day Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Texas, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and other parts of the Americas. In these places, the name isleño was applied to the Canary Islanders to distinguish them from Spanish mainlanders known as "peninsulars". Formerly used for the general category of people, it now refers to the specific cultural identity of Canary Islanders or their descendants throughout Latin America and in Louisiana, where they are still called isleños. Another name for Canary Islander in English is "Canarian." In Spanish, an alternative is canario or isleño canario.
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.
White Brazilians refers to Brazilian citizens who are considered or self-identify as "white", typically because of European or Levantine ancestry.
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 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.
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.
European immigration to Brazil refers to the movement of European people to Brazil. It should not be confused with the colonisation of the country by the Portuguese.
The Spanish diaspora consists of Spanish people and their descendants who emigrated from Spain.
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.
A Haitian Brazilian is a Brazilian person of full, partial, or predominantly Haitian ancestry, or a Haitian-born person residing in Brazil.
The Italian immigration in Minas Gerais was the migratory movement of Italians to the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais that occurred between the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century. It was one of the states that received the most Italian immigrants in Brazil, only behind São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul.
European immigration to the Americas was one of the largest migratory movements in human history. Between the years 1492 and 1930, more than 60 million Europeans immigrated to the American continent. Between 1492 and 1820, approximately 2.6 million Europeans immigrated to the Americas, of whom just under 50% were British, 40% were Spanish or Portuguese, 6% were Swiss or German, and 5% were French.
The Prinetti Decree was a ministerial normative act approved by the General Commissariat of Emigration in Italy on March 26, 1902, which prohibited sponsored emigration to Brazil. The ordinance was named after the then Italian Foreign Affairs Minister, Giulio Prinetti, and approved based on a report denouncing the situations experienced by immigrants on coffee plantations, especially in the post-abolition period. Despite banning the sponsored migration of Italians to Brazil, the decree did not restrict spontaneous migration, which means that Italians who wanted to move to Brazil would have to buy their own tickets, without relying on the Brazilian government.
The Historical Museum of Japanese Immigration in Brazil is located in the Liberdade neighborhood, in the city center of São Paulo, Brazil. It was inaugurated on June 18, 1978, by the Brazilian Society of Japanese Culture to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Japanese immigration to Brazil and has more than 97,000 historical items in its collection, including photos, films and videos. The opening ceremony was attended by the then Prince Akihito of Japan and the President of the Republic Ernesto Geisel.
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