Spanish Chileans
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| All over Chile | |
| Languages | |
| Chilean Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism, Evangelical, Protestantism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Chilean people, Spaniards, and other Latin American peoples |
| Part of a series on the |
| Spanish people |
|---|
_alternate_colours.svg) Rojigualda (historical Spanish flag) |
| Regional groups |
Other groups
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| Significant Spanish diaspora |
 Category •  Spain portal |
Spanish Chileans (in Spanish: Hispanochileno) are citizens of Chile, descended Europeans mainly Spaniards, it is noteworthy that almost 45% of the Chilean population is non-Spanish European surnames. Spaniard colonizers who came in the 16th century, and later waves of immigrants from different parts of Spain. Thousands of Spanish refugees fleeing Spanish Civil War on 1939 also settled and have many descendants in the country. The vast majority of Chileans are of Spanish descent. Most Spaniards were Andalusians, Castilians and Basques during the colonial period. There are also Catalans and Galicians, most of these two came either through Argentina (which has a large Galician population) or came escaping the Spanish Civil War and Franco's Dictatorship.
Folk Culture
The folk culture of Chile has mostly Spanish origins, especially the huaso culture of the central part of the country, as it arose in the colonial period due to cattle ranching. The Andalusian forms in the huaso dress is apparent to Europeans and the music and dances show Spanish origins, even though both have been adapted and are distinct to dress, music and dance in Spain today.
The ranches called fundos, where the huasos lived and worked show strong similarity with Spanish vernacular architecture, especially in the canal roofs and the interior courtyards. The fundo is now thought of as traditional Chilean architecture and is associated with the huaso.
While around 95% of Chileans may have Europe surnames and be predominately descended immigrants from Europe, they do not think themselves as Spanish as a German Chilean might think himself as German. During the independence period, Chileans, almost exclusively of Spanish descent at the time, born in Chile, i.e. criollos, thought themselves solely as Chilean, not as Spanish, as Spain was an enemy nation. Today, these descendants still think of themselves as solely Chilean along with the surnames and architecture dating from that period, even though the latter may be called 'colonial', they are not usually considered of as being Spanish as most present Chileans are not aware of the origins of traditional Chilean culture.[citation needed]