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Filipino people of Spanish ancestry

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Spanish Filipino
Paulino AlcántaraMaloy LozanesZobel de Ayala
Notable Filipino Spanish:
Paulino Alcántara · Maloy Lozanes · Zobel de Ayala
Total population
36,550,197
(roughly 40%-45% of the Philippine population) (Official population are unknown, but was surveyed)
Regions with significant populations
Philippines
Languages
Spanish, Filipino, other Philippine languages, and English.
Religion
Christianity (Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism.)
Related ethnic groups
Filipino people, Filipino Mestizos
Part of a series on the
Spanish people

Rojigualda (historical Spanish flag)
Regional groups
Other groups
Significant Spanish diaspora
Languages
Other languages
Category • flag Spain portal

Spanish settlement in the Philippines first took place in the 16th century, during the Spanish colonial period of the islands. The conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi founded the first Spanish settlement in Cebu in 1565, and later established Manila as the capital of the Spanish East Indies in 1571. The Philippine Islands is named after King Philip II of Spain, and it became a territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain which were governed from Mexico City until the 19th century, when Mexico obtained independence. From 1821, the Philippine Islands were ruled directly from Madrid, Spain.

Spaniards are referred by Filipinos as "Kastila" (Castilian) named after the former Kingdom of Castile, now a region of Spain. The majority of the Filipinos of Spanish descent are of Andalusian origin, while a minority are Catalan or Basque descents. Another term "Hispano Filipinos" (Spanish Filipinos) indicates they are of both ethnic, and cultural Spanish origin.

Ancestry

Main articles: Criollo people, Mestizo, Peninsulares, and Tornatrás

Filipino mestizos of Spanish ancestry

[1] The Spanish conquest of 1565, prompted the colonization of the Philippine Islands that lasted for about 333 years. The Philippines was a former territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain until the grant of independence to Mexico in 1821 necessitated the direct government from Spain of the Philippines from that year. Early Spanish settlers were mostly explorers, soldiers, government officials, religious missionaries, and among others, who were born in Spain, and Mexico called Peninsulares (Spanish migrants living in the colony) or Criollo (Spaniards of pure blood), who settled in the islands with their families to governed the colony, and the majority of the indigenous population. Some of these individuals married or inter-bred with the indigenous Filipino (Austronesian/Malay/Malayo-Polynesian) population while most married only Spaniards of pure Spanish descent. Their suceeding generation called Insulares (Spaniards or Hispanics born from the islands), became town local officers, and were granted with haciendas (plantation estates) by the Spanish government. In some provinces like, Iloilo, Cebu, Pampanga, and Zamboanga, The Spanish government encouraged foreign merchants to trade with the indigenous population, but they were not given certain privileges such as ownership of land. From this contact, social intercourse between foreign merchants, and indigenous people resulted in a new ethnic group. These group were called Mestizos (mixed-race individuals), who were born from intermarriages of the Spaniards and merchants with the indigenous Filipino (Austronesian/Malay/Malayo-Polynesian) natives. Some of their descendants, emerged later as an influential part of the ruling class, such as the Principalía (Nobility).

Mexicans of European or mestizo heritage known as Américanos (Americans) also arrived in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. Between 1565, and 1815, Hispanics from Mexico, and Spain sailed to, and from the Philippines as government officials, soldiers, priests, settlers, traders, sailors, and adventurers in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon assisting Spain in its trade between Latin America, and the Philippine Islands. They also brought with them Amerindians, Negros, and Mulattos, as crews, servants, prisoners, and slaves. Some of these individuals married native Filipinos of different ethnic groups, and classes, and have integrated into Philippine society.

The official percentage of Filipinos with Spanish ancestry is unknown. However only those Filipinos who possess a clear mixed-race appearance are considered by most as actual mestizos. Some offspring of Spanish men, and indigenous Filipino women may have adopted the culture of their fathers, and grand parents, however only a few mixed race families in the Philippines still speak Spanish among themselves.[2] The Philippine Statistics Department does not account for the racial background or ancestry of an indivdual. The official population of all types of Filipino mestizos that reside inside, and outside of the Philippines remain unknown.

Migration of Filipino-Spanish mestizos

A Filipina of Spanish descent, in the 19th century, in a Philippine national dress.

A minority of Filipinos of Spanish descent have migrated to Spain, Latin America, Australia, or the United States, after the Spanish American War, and World War II.

Spanish Filipinos for the most part are found in both the upper, and upper middle socio-economic classes, with a relatively small percentage found among the lower socio-economic classes. Some are active in politics, commerce, entertainment industry, and professional sports.

Language and culture

Main article: Spanish language in the Philippines

Some Filipinos of Spanish descent speak their respective regional languages. They also use English in the public sphere, as well as Filipino, other Philippine languages, or Spanish.

Some Spanish Filipinos can still speak Spanish but not as their first language. Though a minority of the Filipinos speaks Spanish; most Filipinos of Spanish families particularly those of older generations, and recent immigrants, have preserved Spanish as a spoken language. In addition, Chavacano (a criollo language based largely on Spanish vocabulary) is spoken in the southern Philippines, and forms one of the majority languages of Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, Basilan and is mostly concentrated in Zamboanga City. It is also spoken in some parts of the northern Philippines.

Some Filipinos have Spanish family names, because when the King of Spain ordered to established a census in the Philippines, some indigenous Filipinos copied the family names of the Spanish peoples. However, it tells the first letter of a town must started with the family names of the indigenous Filipinos with that letter. Examples of these is the family name Garin from the town of Guimbal. (Note that the first letter of the Garin family name started capital letter "G" with the town of Guimbal. Also, Some of the Spanish peoples married chinese ones. Example of that are the Locsin clans of the Philippines.


Socioeconomic status

Filipinos of Spanish descent currently constitute the great majority of both the upper and middle classes and rarely intermingle with those outside their ethnic group. Many are either in politics or are high-ranking executives of commerce and industry, entertainment and sporting ranks. Most elite Filipino family dynasties, political families and the elite clans are of Spanish origin. A number of Filipinos of Spanish descent are also found in the lower classes.

Recent immigration

According to a recent survey, the number of Spanish citizens in the Philippines regardless of ethnolinguistic affiliation was about 16,300, excluding Philippine citizens of Spanish descent. Spaniards are referred to as Kastila from the name Castile. The vast majority are Andalusians, while a minority are Catalans or Basques.

Ethnolinguistic affinity

Castilians and Catalans combined account for 9,000 of Spanish citizens in the Philippines, while the Basques number about 7,300. Other peninsular ethnicities such as Galician were not distinguished from the Castilian and the Catalan, since all three speak the same language family, the Romance language family.

Prominent Filipinos of Spanish descent

For a list of prominent or noteworthy Filipinos of Spanish descent, see Category:Filipinos of Spanish descent.

Notable Filipinos of Spanish ancestry


Notable Spaniards with Filipino ancestry

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]. Accessed July 17, 2009.
  2. ^ "Race Mixing and Westernization in Latin America and the Philippines". Analitica.com Venezuela. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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