Spanish Peruvian
Encyclopedia
A Spanish Peruvian is a Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

vian citizen of Spanish descent
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

. Among European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....

 Peruvians, the Spanish are the largest group of immigrants to settle in the country.

History

In 1532, the Spanish conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...

es arrived in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. As they began to conquer the country, their culture and influence spread throughout the nation. Not only did their ideology spread, their population did as well. Over the period of the Peruvian colonial era, hundreds of thousands of Spanish immigrants flooded into Peruvian ports. These Spanish-born immigrants, called Peninsulares, caused much friction between themselves and the locally-born Spanish criollos or creoles. The peninsulares had a distinctly higher social rank than the criollos even though their only difference was their place of birth. The peninsulares were given the highest governing positions, while the criollos, although much more wealthy than the mestizos and amerindians, did not receive all of the privileges given to the Spain-born Spanish. This would eventually lead to the independence movement in the early 19th century. During the colonial period, the Spanish crown disallowed the immigration of other Europeans to Peru. For this reason, throughout the entire colonial period, up until independence, the European population in Peru was made up solely of Spaniards. Around the time of independence the rate of immigration was low and not many Europeans were entering the country. The nation was, in essence, in a state of chaos, for the reason that the government was still in the process of deciding how it would rule the newly-independent country. At this time, many caudillos, or dictators, attempted to assume control of the nation. Some of these attempts, such as that of Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...

, were met with approval from the public, while others were not. Spanish immigration did not resume until the 1840s at the beginning of the Guano era
Guano Era (Peru)
The Guano Era refers to a period of stability and prosperity in Peru during the mid-19th century. It was sustained on the substantial revenues generated by the export of guano and the strong leadership of president Ramón Castilla. The starting date for the guano era is commonly considered to be...

, one of Peru's most prosperous time periods. During this era, immigration from Spain greatly increased and the economy was booming and standard of living was high. This era ended in 1866 with the Spanish-Peruvian War
Chincha Islands War
The Chincha Islands War was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru and Chile from 1864 to 1866, that began with Spain's seizure of the guano-rich Chincha Islands, part of a series of attempts by Isabel II of Spain to reassert her country's lost...

 in which Peru emerged victorious. After the war, immigration decreased although the influx of immigrants remained steady until the 1930s. During the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

, thousands of Spaniards fled from Spain to Peru. Over the course of General Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...

's dictatorship many thousands more fled in fear of the regime. The Spanish republicans fled Franco's regime as well, seeking to escape retribution from the new government. World War II brought the end of Spanish immigration to Peru. Many Spanish Peruvians left the nation in 1960s and 1970s to flee from excessive poverty and dictatorship of Gen. Juan Velasco Alvarado
Juan Velasco Alvarado
Juan Francisco Velasco Alvarado was a left-leaning Peruvian General who ruled Peru from 1968 to 1975 under the title of "President of the Revolutionary Government."- Early life :...

 and most of these moved to United States and Spain, while most of the rest to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and United Kingdom. The second wave of Spanish and other white Peruvians left during the Alan Garcia regime (a Hispanic descendant) that led Peru to extreme poverty and hyperinflation. Nevertheless immigration from Spain began again in considerable numbers throughout the 20th century due to many Spanish tourists settling in Peru.

Origins and passage

The regions from which most Spanish immigrants originated were those of Extremadura
Extremadura
Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...

, Castile
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...

, Galicia, and Andalucía. Most of the colonial immigrants, in consequence, went from the southern regions of Spain to what now is considered the coastal Peruvian region. These immigrants generally departed from the ports of Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....

 or Sevilla and arrived in the ports of Callao
Callao
Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...

, Mollendo
Mollendo
Mollendo is a town bordering the Pacific Ocean in southern Peru. It is located in the Arequipa Region and is the capital of both the Islay Province and the Mollendo District...

 and Pimentel
Pimentel
Pimentel is a comune in the Province of Cagliari in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 30 km north of Cagliari. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,200 and an area of 15.0 km²....

. Many of these immigrants made a stopover in a Caribbean port before arriving in Peru. Before the development of the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 ships would forced to go around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...

 to reach Peruvian ports. Although not many, a few travelers made their way from Europe to Peru via the Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...

. These immigrants would seek passage on the many commercial ships going to retrieve rubber in Peru to bring back to Europe. These immigrants would arrive at the river port of Iquitos
Iquitos
Iquitos is the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest, with a population of 370,962. It is the capital of Loreto Region and Maynas Province.Located on the Amazon River, it is only above sea level, although it is more than from the mouth of the Amazon at Belém on the Atlantic Ocean...

. Almost all of them stayed there. These immigrants numbered no more than a few thousand.

Spanish Peruvian identity

Around 44% of Peruvians are mestizos (people of mixed white and native Peruvian descent), more than 7% are mulattoes, making a total of 51% mixed segment , This intermixing began since when the Spaniards invasion of the Americas was militarily in style, which brought only men, unlike the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the Americas that brought women and families as well. The Spaniards raped native women and intermarried voluntarily and involuntarily some of them, thus mestizo children appeared. During the colonial period, the Spaniards started bringing some women, slowing down some of the mixing. Even though the mix started during the invasion, the mix between the races intensified heavily during and after the independence movements. This happened due to the fact that lots of native people who fought for the war gained their freedom and married natives or mestizos or at lesser extent white woman. Many free men changed the last names that they were given from Spanish plantation owners (Like Hernandez, Perez, etc.) to Quispe (also known as Xispe, Qispe), among others, which means freedom in Quechua. Many Spanish Peruvians were against independence because they had a lot to lose (land, servants, etc.), but some were convinced to switch sides once the Hispanic freedom fighters Bolivar and San Martin convinced that they were not going to lose a lot but did have to compromise. Thus the feudal/hacienda system still occurred until the 1960s.
The interracial mix became heavier during the agrarian reforms of the 60s and 70s, where native and mestizo Peruvians had their own land, that was taken away from foreign owners (sadly at the cost of the landowner). The new mestizos hoped they would be proud of their native heritage, instead of their Hispanic heritage; but, they turn out to be people who discriminated people who clung to native traditions, clothing or language.

Most white people in Peru descends from Spaniards, followed by other groups like Italians (second most common), German, British, French and Polish. Some white Peruvians have tended to bring ideas of equality to Peru and help the native Peruvians and other native advocates in their struggle for cultural rights, human rights, cultural equality (i.e. teaching Quechua in classes), and ethnic identity pride, in the Peruvian society, where mestizos and whites are dominant groups.

Spanish Peruvian institutions and associations

  • Fondo de Cooperación Hispano Peruano
  • Centro Hispano-Peruano
  • Cooperacion Hispano Peruano
  • Federación de Asociaciones de Peruanos en España
  • Embajada De España en Peru
  • Centro Cultural Hispano Americano
  • Asociación Hispano-Peruano
  • Asociación de Genealogía Hispana
  • Enlace Hispano Americano de Salud
  • Asociacion de medicos Hispano-Peruanos

Famous Spanish Peruvians

  • Saint Rose of Lima
  • Nicolás de Piérola
    Nicolás de Piérola
    H.E. Don Jose Nicolás Baltasar Fernández de Piérola y Villena was a prominent Peruvian politician, the Finance Minister and twice President of the Republic of Peru .-Early years:Nicolás de Piérola was born and educated in the southern Peruvian city of Arequipa...

  • Mario Vargas Llosa
    Mario Vargas Llosa
    Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation...

  • Claudio Pizarro
    Claudio Pizarro
    Claudio Miguel Pizarro Bosio is a Peruvian football forward. Pizarro plays for Werder Bremen of the German Bundesliga...

  • Luis Castañeda Lossio
    Luis Castañeda Lossio
    Óscar Luis Castañeda Lossio is a Peruvian politician who was Mayor of Lima, Peru, from 2003 to 2010.-Biography:Castañeda, who was born in Chiclayo and lived in the Casa Castañeda, is the son of Carlos Castañeda Iparraguirre and Ida Lossio. His father is remembered as one of the most important...

  • Alan García
  • José Bernardo de Tagle
    José Bernardo de Tagle
    José Bernardo de Tagle y Portocarrero, marquis de Torre Tagle and marquis of Trujillo was a Peruvian soldier and politician, occupying the Peruvian presidency from 1823 to 1824.-Biography:...

  • José de la Riva Agüero
    José de la Riva Agüero
    José Mariano de la Riva Agüero y Sánchez Boquete Marquess De Montealegre de Aulestia was a Peruvian soldier, politician, historian and twice President of Peru....

  • Luis José de Orbegoso
    Luis José de Orbegoso
    Luis José de Orbegoso y Moncada count De Olmos , an aristocratic Peruvian soldier and politician, was President of Peru from 1833 to 1836...

  • Manuel Salazar y Baquíjano
    Manuel Salazar y Baquíjano
    Manuel Salazar y Baquíjano count of Vistaflorida, was briefly the President of Peru from June to August 1827. His parents were José Antonio de Salazar y Breña and Francisca Baquíjano y Carrillo de Córdoba. José Baquíjano was Manuel Salazar's uncle....

  • Felipe Santiago Salaverry
    Felipe Santiago Salaverry
    Felipe Santiago de Salaverry was a Peruvian soldier, politician and, from 1835 to 1836, President of Peru.He studied in the College of San Carlos in Lima...

  • Juan Crisóstomo Torrico
    Juan Crisóstomo Torrico
    Juan Crisóstomo Torrico González was President of Peru during a brief period in 1842. At age 34, he was the youngest ever president of Peru....

  • Francisco Vidal
    Francisco Vidal
    Juan Francisco de Vidal was President of Peru for a brief period between 1842 and 1843.-See also:* List of Presidents of Peru...

  • Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco
    Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco
    Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco Iturralde was a Peruvian politician and military leader who held the presidency of Peru from 1843 to 1844. He was born in Valparaíso, Chile...

  • Juan Antonio Pezet
    Juan Antonio Pezet
    Juan Antonio Pezet was a Peruvian military officer and politician who served in the positions of Secretary of War, Vice President and President of Peru during his life...

  • Mariano Ignacio Prado
    Mariano Ignacio Prado
    Mariano Ignacio Prado Ochoa was twice the President of Peru, from 1865 to 1868 and 1876 to 1879).-Biography:Born in Huánuco in 1826, he entered the army at an early age and served in the provinces of Southern Peru....

  • José Balta
    José Balta
    José Balta y Montero was a Peruvian soldier and politician who was president of Peru from 1868 to 1872. He was the son of John Balta Bru and Agustina Montero Casafranca....

  • Manuel Pardo
    Manuel Pardo
    Manuel Pardo y Lavalle was a Peruvian politician and the first civilian President of Peru.Born in Lima, Peru, he was the founder of the most important political party of the era...

  • Francisco García Calderón
    Francisco García Calderón
    Francisco García Calderón Landa was a lawyer and president of Peru for a short seven-month period in 1881, during the War of the Pacific. His predecessor was Nicolás de Piérola, his successor was Lizardo Montero Flores...

  • Remigio Morales Bermúdez
    Remigio Morales Bermúdez
    Remigio Morales Bermúdez was president of Peru from 1890 to 1894. His predecessor until 1890 was Andrés Avelino Cáceres, his successor was Justiniano Borgoño in 1894. He died while still in office....

  • Justiniano Borgoño
    Justiniano Borgoño
    Justiniano Borgoño Castañeda was a Peruvian soldier and politician who briefly occupied the Presidency of Peru during 1894....

  • Manuel Candamo
    Manuel Candamo
    Manuel Cándamo Iriarte was President of Peru from September 8, 1903 until May 7, the following year, when he died in office.- Early life :...

  • Eduardo López de Romaña
    Eduardo López de Romaña
    Eduardo López de Romaña y Alvizuri was President of Peru from 1899 to 1903. A respected member of the Peruvian Elite and López de Romaña Family, he was the first engineer to become President of the Republic, and one of several Presidents from the Civilista Party during the era of the "Aristocratic...

  • José Pardo y Barreda
    José Pardo y Barreda
    José Simón Pardo y Barreda was a Peruvian politician who twice occupied the Presidency of Peru, from 1904 to 1908 and 1915 to 1919....

  • Augusto B. Leguía
    Augusto B. Leguía
    Augusto Bernardino Leguía y Salcedo was a Peruvian politician who twice occupied the Presidency of Peru, from 1908 to 1912 and from 1919 to 1930.-Early life:...

  • Óscar R. Benavides
    Óscar R. Benavides
    Óscar Raymundo Benavides Larrea , prominent Peruvian field marshal, diplomat and politician, and was the President of Peru from 1914 to 1915 and from 1933 to 1939.- Early life :...

  • Manuel Prado Ugarteche
    Manuel Prado Ugarteche
    Manuel Prado y Ugarteche was a Peruvian banker and political figure. Son of former president, Mariano Ignacio Prado, he was born in Lima and served as the President of Peru twice, from 1939 until 1945 and again between 1956 and 1962...

  • José Bustamante y Rivero
    José Bustamante y Rivero
    José Luis Bustamante y Rivero was a lawyer, writer, politician, diplomat, President of Peru from 1945 to 1948 and President of the International Court of Justice in The Hague from 1967 to 1969.- Early years :...

  • Fernando Belaúnde Terry
    Fernando Belaúnde Terry
    Fernando Belaúnde Terry was President of Peru for two non-consecutive terms . Deposed by a military coup in 1968, he was re-elected in 1980 after eleven years of military rule...

  • Víctor Andrés Belaúnde
    Víctor Andrés Belaúnde
    Víctor Andrés Belaúnde Diez Canseco was a Peruvian diplomat who chaired the Fourteenth session and the fourth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly .Victor Andrés Belaúnde was born in Arequipa, Peru...

  • Antero Flores Aráoz
    Antero Flores Aráoz
    Ántero Flores Aráoz Esparza is a Peruvian lawyer and politician. He is a leader of the Christian People's Party and a member of National Unity....

  • Francisco García Calderón Rey
    Francisco García Calderón Rey
    Francisco García Calderón Rey was a Peruvian writer.He was born into a wealthy and politically prominent family in Valparaiso, Chile on April 8, 1883. His father, for whom Calderón was named, was the President of Peru for a short time during the Chilean occupation of Peru...

  • Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
    Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
    Javier Pérez de Cuéllar y de la Guerra is a Peruvian diplomat who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 1991. He studied in Colegio San Agustín of Lima, and then at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. In 1995, he ran unsuccessfully...

  • Mariano Eduardo de Rivero y Ustariz
    Mariano Eduardo de Rivero y Ustariz
    Mariano Eduardo de Rivero y Ustariz was a prominent Peruvian scientist, geologist, mineralogist, chemist, archaeologist, politician and diplomat...

  • Francisco Morales Bermúdez
    Francisco Morales Bermúdez
    Francisco Morales Bermúdez Cerruti is a Peruvian general who came to power in Peru in 1975 after deposing his predecessor, General Juan Velasco. His grandfather and all his original family were from the old Peruvian department of Tarapacá, which is now part of the Chilean territory...

  • Chabuca Granda
    Chabuca Granda
    María Isabel Granda Larco , better known as Chabuca Granda, was a Peruvian singer and composer. She created and interpreted a vast number of Criollo waltzes with Afro-Peruvian rhythms...

  • María Julia Mantilla
    María Julia Mantilla
    María Julia “Maju” Mantilla García is a Peruvian beauty queen who became the second woman from Peru to be crowned Miss World.-Early life:...

  • Claudia Ortiz
  • Miguel Grau Seminario
    Miguel Grau Seminario
    Miguel María Grau Seminario was a renowned Peruvian naval officer and hero of the Naval Battle of Angamos during the War of the Pacific . He was known as the el Caballero de los Mares for his chivalry and is esteemed by both Peruvians and Chileans...

  • César Miró
    César Miró
    César Alfredo Miró Quesada Bahamonde , more commonly known as César Miró, was a Peruvian writer and composer. He wrote novels, stories, manuscripts, essays, and poetry.-Biography:...

  • Francisco Miró Quesada Cantuarias
  • Cayetano Heredia
    Cayetano Heredia
    Cayetano Heredia was a Peruvian physician, born in Catacaos, Piura . He studied medicine at National University of San Marcos. Together with Hipólito Unanue he was one of the two greatest Peruvian physicians of the 19th century...

  • Alberto Tejada Noriega
    Alberto Tejada Noriega
    Alberto Tejada Noriega is the incumbent Peruvian Minister of Health. He was also a urologist and later a football referee.-Football career:He refereed three matches in the FIFA World Cup, two in 1994 and one in 1998....

  • Hipólito Unanue
    Hipólito Unanue
    José Hipólito Unanue y Pavón was a physician and a Peruvian politician, active in politics in the early years after independence.-Early life:...

  • Alberto Bustamante Belaunde
    Alberto Bustamante Belaunde
    José Alberto Bustamante Belaúnde was a Peruvian politician. He was the 48th Prime Minister of Peru from 1999–2000, under President Alberto Fujimori.-Biography:...

  • Alfonso Ugarte
    Alfonso Ugarte
    Alfonso Ugarte was a Peruvian military commander during the War of the Pacific, between Peru and Bolivia against Chile. He ultimately rose to the rank of Colonel....

  • Juan Diego Flórez
    Juan Diego Flórez
    Juan Diego Flórez is a Peruvian operatic tenor, particularly known for his roles in bel canto operas. On June 4, 2007, he received his country's highest decoration, the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Sol del Perú....

  • Susana Villarán
    Susana Villarán
    Susana María del Carmen Villarán de la Puente is a centre-left politician in Peru, a former presidential candidate, and in municipal elections in 2010 became the first woman to be elected Mayor of Lima....

  • Mercedes Aráoz
    Mercedes Aráoz
    Mercedes Rosalba Aráoz Fernández is a Peruvian economist, professor, and politician. She served as Minister of Foreign Commerce and Tourism from 2006 to December 2009, after which she was appointed as Peru's Finance Minister....

     Also known as "The Missnister".
  • Javier Valle Riestra
    Javier Valle Riestra
    Javier Maximiliano Alfredo Hipólito Valle Riestra González Olaechea, , is a Peruvian politician and a Congressman representing Lima for the 2006-2011 term. Valle Riestra belongs to the Peruvian Aprista Party. He was Prime Minister of Peru in 1998 during Alberto Fujimori's administration.-External...

  • Martín Adán
    Martín Adán
    Martín Adán , pseudonym of Rafael de la Fuente Benavides, was a Peruvian poet whose body of work is notable for its hermeticism and metaphysical depth....

  • Manuel González Prada
    Manuel González Prada
    Jose Manuel de los Reyes González de Prada y Ulloa was a Peruvian politician and anarchist, literary critic and director of the National Library of Peru...

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