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Spanish Immigration to the United StatesAuthor(s): R. A. GomezReviewed work(s):Source: The Americas, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Jul., 1962), pp. 59-78Published by: Academy of American Franciscan HistoryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/979406 .

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SPANISHIMMIGRATIONTO THE UNITED STATES

IN our preoccupation ith the Spaniardsf earliercenturies ndtheirsubsequentrnpact n the historyof the UnitedStates,wehave ended o overlookhe Spanishmmigrantsf modern ecades.

The presence f largenumbersf Spanishamilynames n the UnitedStates,pariicularlyn New York City and in western tates,has ob-scuredhe fact thatvery few Spaniardsavecome o theUnitedStatesdirectly rom Spain.1 t is the purpose f this paper o investigatehedataon modernmovementsf Spaniardso the Americasn general,with special mphasisn theUnitedStates, ndto considerhe patternof Spanish ettlementn the UnitedStatesthat resulted rom thesemovements.

Theemigrationf greatnumbers f SpaniardsromSpainduring helastdecadesf thenineteenthentury nd hefirstdecades f the twen-tieth centurywassignificant nough o placeSpainamong he mostactivemigratory eoplesof Europe, anking ehindhe UnitedKing-dom andItaly and ranking loselywith Austria-Hungarynd Ger-

many.2So greatwas the exodus hatmuchSpanishiteratureasbeenconcernedwith the subject:official eports,universitytudies, ener-ally distributedooks, ndoccasionalreatmentnregionalovels.3Thetenorof someof this writings sufficientlyoul-searchingn its natureto place t in thegeneral ategoryof the introspectiveritingof the" generationf 98."By theturnof the twentiethentury nough tten-tion hadbeenfocusedon theproblemhat egislation assoon passedattemptingo prevent nnecessarymigrationnd o lessen omeof the

evilsof it.

# The author s indebted o the AmericanPhilosophical ociety for a travel grantwhich greatly acilitated esearchn the United Statesand Spain.This papers intendedas a frameworkor a book on the subject.

1 The terms " Spaniard and "Spanish," hen used hereaftern this paper,refer toSpaniardswho have come directly from Spainor who have come afteronly reason-able transitorymovement hroughother countries.

2 Leagueof Nations, InternationalLabor Office, MigrationIn Its VariousForms(Geneva,1926),pp. 7-9. Preparedor the International conomicConference, 927.

3 Some representativeitles: Vicente BorregonRibes, La emigracionespcmolaAmerica (Vigo, 1952);RamonBullonFernandez,El problemade la emigracion.Loscrgmenesde ella (Barcelona,1914); Jose Casaisy Santalo,Emigracionespannolaparticularmenteallegaa Ultramar Madrid,1915);Domingo Villar Grangel,La emi-gracio'n allega (Santiago, 901);EduardoVincenti,Estudio obre emigracio'nMadrids1908); and special publications f the ConsejoSuperiorde Emigracion uch as Loremigracion spzzola ransoceanica,911-191S.

59



R. A. GOMEZ6t

period,approximately.8 million eturnedo Spain. A useable igurefor net emigraiion,hen,mightbe 1.2 million.The greatbulkof this

emigrationookplace n thequarter-centuryrom1900 o 1924; oughlytwo-thirds f all Spanish migrationrom 1882 o 1947 (approximately700,000net) took placedunng hatshortperiod.

A certain attern f movementso and romSpain rom1882 o 1947is observablesfollows:

1882-1898: Heavy net emigrationo Argentina ndCuba1899- 1900: Decline(Spanish-Americanar)1901-1913: Heavy net emigration; eginning f substantial ovement

to the U. S.191+1918: Net immigrationWorld War I)1919-1930: Heavynet emigration ut virtualdisappearancef emigra-

tion to the U. S. after19211931-1947: Decline;net immigration931-1934 (depression);ollowed

by CivilWar, World War II

SPANISHOVEMENTOLATIN MERICA

Quitenaturally, paniardslocked o LatinAmerican exceptionally

greatnumbers,speciallyo Argentina ndCuba.Cubawas,of course,a Spanish olony until the end of the Spanish-Americanar and itserved, herefore, s an outletfor Spaniards ishing o go to familiarsurroundingsn the westernhemisphere.Furthermore,nducementswere beingextended o agricultural orkers.7Argentinawas a muchgreaterattraciion,having made a determined id for immigrants.8Argentina, ndeed, n the recordsof internationalmigraiion, ankssecondonly to the UnitedStates n termsof immigration,oth gross

andnet.9 To a much esser xtent toodBrazil,Mexico,and Uruguayas attractionsor Spaniards ishing o emigrateo LaiinAmerica.

Argentina asaccountedor as muchSpanish migrations all othercountries ombined andmore, f the entiremovementrom he 1850'sis considered).A comparisonf Spanish ndArgentineeportsndicatesthat approximatelyalf of the entirenumber f Spaniardsmigraiingfrom1882 o 1947 s clearly ttributableo Argentina'sowerful ttrac-tion-about600,000 et,withthepossibiligrf a higher igure pproach-

7 On the attractions f Cuba,see ConsejoSuperiorde Emigracion Spain),Emigra-cion transoceanica, 1911-19lS, pp. 135-136. Also, J. M. Alvarez Acevedo,La colonictespznola en la economia cubana (Habana, 936), passim.

9 In Anuario Estadistico Interamericano, 1942, immigrationotals from 1820 to 1924are given as follows: U. S. A.-33,188,000; Argentina-5,486,000; Canada-4,520,000;Brazil-3,855,000. All of these are gross figures,not accounting or departures.

8 Indeed, the preambleof Argentina'sConstitution f 1852-1853extended equalityof treatment or aliens.



62 SPANISHNUNITEDTATES

ing0 percent.l°Another25 percentor so wentto Cuba,probably

about00,000 et. TheremainingmigrantsromSpainotheAmericas

(perhaps5percent)wouldbe distributedmongBrazil,Mexico,he

Unitedtates,Uruguay, ndothers.

Threereatgeographicalreas f Spain ave urnishedllbutasmall

percentagef emigrants:he CantabrianndAtlanticcoasts romthe

Basquerovinces earFrance o GalicianearPortugal,with special

emphasisn Galicia;heMediterraneanoastof Valencia ndMurcia;

andndalusian thesouthwesternorner.Someatteniionmustalso

beivento the Canary slands s well. The greatcentral ableland

contributedomparativelyew emigrants;atalonia,ithits centerof

populationnBarcelona,asnotbeenasgreatacontributors tsimpor-

tanceuggests.Taking heyears1910-1915sa representativeeriod,

thewentymostactiveprovinces ereasfollows(thefiguresepresent-

inghegrossnumberf transoceanicmigrants):

1. Coruna 61,560 11. Barcelona 15,682

2. Pontevedra 53,106 12. Valencia 12,230

3. Orense 52,745 13. Santander 11,837

4. Lugo 51,88314. Alicante 10,911

5. Oviedo 47,652 15. Granada 10,770

6. Almeria 36,722 16. Malaga 8,676

7. Canarias 30,270 17. Burgos 8,512

8. Leon 29,415 18. Murcia 7,978

9. Salamanca 20,969 19. Logrono 7,735

10. Zamora 19,087 20. Vizcaya 7,709

Totalfor all49 provinces: 02,0811l

Speakingn thelargestpossibleermsof Spanisheography,wo great

currentsf migratorymovementare represented: northerly-to-westerlylowfromCantabrianndAtlanticprovinces,ddingnorthern

Leon ndthenorthern artof OldCastile Burgos,Logrono,Santan-

der);anda southerly-to-westerlylowoutof Andalusia,heLevantine

coast, nd heCanaryslands.Employinghetraditionalegionalerms,

theorderwouldbe asfollows:

1. Galicia(Coruna,Lugo,Orense,Pontevedra) 219,294 36.4%

2. Leon(Leon,Salamanca,amora) 69,471 11.5

3. Andalusia(Almeria, Granada,Malaga)56,168 9.3

4. AsturiasOviedo)47,652 7.9

5. Levant(Valencia,Alicante,Murcia) 31,119 5.2

10Estimatesor the longerperiodfrom 1857placethe numberat aboutone million,

as doesAnuario estadistico de Espana, 1960, p. 48.

11ConsejoSuperiorde Emigracion(Spain), Emigracion transoceanica, 1911-191S,

passim.



R. A. GOMEZ 63

6. Canaryslands 30,270 5.07. OldCastileSantander,urgos,ogrono) 28,084 4.78. CataloniaBarcelona) 15,682 2.6

(Vizcaya mittedrom hisgrouping)

It isto benoted hatGaliciatands learlynfrontasthemostsubstan-tial contributoro Spanish migraiion. f we speakof the regionalgroupsn largererms,nearly cwo-thirds63.1percent) arenorthernprovinces Galicia,Leon,Asturias,Old Castile,andCataloniaepre-sentingthe regionalgroupings f these);of these,the northeasternregionsdominate55.8per cent) in the picture(Galicia,Leon,As-turias); ndGalicia, y itself,accountsor36.4

percent.Thesepatternsmay be safelyemployedas representativef the Spanish migratory* * .

experlence m general.

Specialattention,hen,shouldbe paidto the massivemovement fSpaniardsromGaliciao Americanountries.Thismovementwassospectacularhatmuchof theSpanishiteraturenemigraiions focusedon it. Mostof the Golllegos entto Argentinandsettled n BuenosAiresandvicinity. In 1953one estimatetated hattherewereover

700,000GolllegosnBuenosAires, husmakingt quiteeasily helargest&alicianity of theworld.l2 n addiiiono BuenosAires,argegroupsof Golllegosre o befound n Caracas, avana, ndMontevideo.TheCentroGolllegos a widelyknownmutual enefit rganizationn LatinAmericanities.

The Gallegos ame romallvocationalroupswithespeciallyargenumbers f agriculturalaborers,ailors,ishermen, aiters,andsmallshopkeepers.nmanycitiesof LatinAmericaheybecamemiddle-class

merchantsnd heir hildren avemovedntoprofessionallassifications.Calicians, mong he Spanishtereotypes,ave ong beenknownfortheirshrewdnessndhavebeensaidto possessmoreof the qualiiiesnecessaryorsuccessfulusinessmenhanmostotherSpanards.13

THEMOTIVATIONSOR MIGRATION

The reasonsor Spanish migration fferno new sourcefor thecontemplationf international igrations.Largely, he motivations

12 Faro de Vigo. Numero especialconmemoroltivoel centenario, 8S3-19S3.Twocontributorso this issuewrite aboutGalicia n Argentina:AntonioLozano,pp. 92-93;SalvadorLorenzana, p. 172-173.

13 GeneralFranco,Spain'sChief of State,is a Galician. It is sometimes aid thathisnativeshrewdness asprovidedhim with the necessaryqualities o achievesuccessmilitarilyand politically. Recently, in ABC (Madrid), in the special twenty-fifthanniversaryssue honoringFranco'saccession o power,October 1, 1961,Jose MariaPemanof the SpanishRoyal Academy,referred o this prudencia alleg.



64 SPANISHN UNITED TATES

appear o be centered n economicpressures r desires.Some doubtexistsas to whetheror not so much emigration as justifiedby the

existing conomic onditions.An old popular ong daang rombeforethe turnof the century peaksor one pointof view:

A las Indias van los hombres,a las Indias por ganar:

las Indiasaqui las tienensi quisieran rabajar.14

CertainlySpaniards ere " west-minded and naturally o. Longbeforethe Germans,Russians, ustrians, oles,and even the Italians

formedvery widely distributed esires or a westwardmovement,heSpaniardsadakeadyestablishedsortof national ighway o it. Andeven thoughthe independencemovement n Latin America argelyerasedhe colonial ystem, paniardsere ikely o lookto theAmericasquiteasnaturally sthefrontiersmenf earlyNorthAmerica onsideredthe westernandsbeyond he mountains.

The situation n agriculturalreasrepresentedn almostconstant

pressureor emigration. n the first place,the seasonal haracter fagriculturalmploymentroused esireso seekemploymentlsewherefor partof the year. Thusarose he fantastic olondrinol ovement ymeans f whichthousandsf Spaniardsnnually ttemptedo gaintheadvantages f working n two growingseasons:one in the spring-summer f Spainandanothern the spring-summerf SouthAmerica,mainlyArgentina, here he warm eason xtendedromNovember oApril.l5The golondrinarsere not, properly peaking, migrants, utthey were so recorded n the officialrecordsof embarkation. heItalians ngaged n this swallow-likemovementbetween Italy andArgentinao an even greaterdegree hanthe Spaniards.A lesserbutstill significantemporary migrationo the Americaswas also to befound in other than annualagricultural ovements.Manywere theSpaniards ho emigratedo Argentina, uba, r the UnitedStates nlylong enough o gain sufficientavings t general killed aboror mer-cantileactivity,afterwhichone lived n Spainat a ratherhigher evelthan before the venture. Indeed, here were Spaniards ho " com-

muted" betweenSpainand somewheren the Americas ver a longperiod f years,usuallymaintainingprincipal ouseholdn Spain.

Anotherpressure o emigrate,with an agricultural ase, resulted

14 Quotedby J. M. de Pereda n " A Las Indias a short story in the volumeentitled_ ,

tscenas montanescls.

15 See MarkJefferson, eopling the Argentine Pclmpcl New York, 1926), pp. 182 f.



R. A. GOMEZ 65

frompopulationressuren theland. Insouthern pain, n thesugar-caneand ruitregions f Andalusiand heLevannneoast,population

pressure asthat of anexcessiveupplyof laboron largeplantaiions.In Galicia,n thenorth, hepressure aslargelyof another ind:theminifundio, r excessively ivided andinto plotstoo small or sub-sistence.16 o scrupulously ere landsdividedamongchildren hattherewereparcels f landno largerhan hefew squareeetnecessaryto surround tree. In thecaseswhere,assomeiimesn theinterior fGalicia,andswerekeptlargerby primogeniture,heresultwould bethesame-theother onswouldhave omoveon,either o lands vailablethroughheirwivesor outof thearea ntirely.SinceGalicianamiliestend to runverylarge, heproblem f pressure n thelandwasoftenacute.

Not alwaysprimarilyconomicn nature, utverystrongn effect,was the attraction rovidedby the letters romrelatives ndfriendsakeady n residencen the Americas.Once a sewlement f Spaniardswasestablishedherewas a naturalollow-upof relatives ndfriendsfrom he oldcountry.Itmightbepointed utthatmostSpaniardsere

literate nd husencounteredo difficultyn communicatingiththeirfriends.InCuba, orexample,n 1907, t wasreportedhatasmanyas74 percentof the "foreignwhites" wereliterate; earlyall of thesewereSpaniards.l7nadditiono appealsromabroad,heSpaniardshoreturnedo theircitiesandvillagesaftersomeyears'absence, erhapswithsavingsufficiento markhemas amonghemoreaffluent f theircommunities,ereappealingdvertisementsor theAmericas.

It appearshatthemilitarydraft awswereto someundeterminable

extentnfluennaln causingmigration. inceemigrationtatisticshowthatmales n the agegroup rom 15to 55constitutedhebulkof emi-grants(outnumberingemalesby about hreeto one),18t is obviousthat thousands f prospectivedrafteeswere amongthem. Indeed,reports f port nspectorsitedthedesireo avoidmilitaryervice s acommonnducemento emigrate.19

It is said hatmanySpaniardsmigratedolelyout of the desire oradventure,lthought is likely hat hisnumbersnotsipficant. Gali-

16Vicente BorregonRibes, La emigracionespanolaa Ame'rica Vigo, 1952), pp.155-156.

17 U. S. Bureau f the Census,Cuba,p. 206.

18 UnitedNations. Department f Social Affairs.PopulationDivision,SencmndAgeof InternationalMigrants:Statistics or 1918-1947New York,1953),pp. 261 f.

19DireccionGeneraldel InstitutoGeografico Estadistico, Estadisticade la emigra-cion de Espoma,891-1895.



SPANISHN UNITEDTATES6

ciansareapparentlyonstrainedo citethismoiivaiion y pointing utthattheyhaveoccupied neof thefinisterresf theworldandthat,as

mariners,akingo thesea s naturalo them.20t maywellbe that henumber o motivatedmaybe oumumberedn Spanish xperience y"reluctantmigrancswhowerecompelledo emigrate ithhusband,father, relderbrother.21

A most ignificantorce nencouragingmigraiion ightbedescribedas externalo Spain, amily,or friends: he inducementsxtendedbyAmericanepublics,y agriculturalnterest roups, ndevenby steam-shipcompanies.Argentina, razil, ndCubaextendednducementsn-

volving andand/oremployment;ugarplantersn CubaandHawaii2

andthePanamaCanal nterprise ereacive recruiters.Agentswerefrequentlyentto Spain o recruit uchworkers ndperhapso con-tract ortheir ervices efore mbarkation.

Special ttentionhouldperhapsegiven o steamshipompaniesnd. * * * . . * * * * , s * r * @

t zelractlvltlesm stlmu tmgemlgratlon. he lterature t emlgratlonand immigrations filledwith usuallycondemnatoryescripaons ftheirroles.23 omesteamshipompaniespparentlyrummedp busi-nesswithoutanyparticularoncernorthewelfareof theprospectivepassengers,venperhaps eceivinghemasto theirdestinationn somecases.Or,at theveryleast, hischargemaybe laidto theagents m-ployedby suchcompanies. herewere,of course,perfectlyegitimateandhonorablenterprisesf thiskind,performingnadequateervicewithoutanyskullduggerynvolved.Unscrupulousgentsherewere ngood number,however,who cheatedmanyemigrants;ome,it wascharged,werecloselyalliedwithlocalpolitical hieftains.24 hatever

theextentof thesepractices,t is arecognizableconomic dvantageora steamshipompany,therwiseacing hepossibilijcyf returning ithemptyholds,to returnwith humancargounderthird-classteeragearrangements-theestkindof cargo,sinceit frequently equired ohandlingwhatever.It wasevenpossibleo havethe passengersarryonthecotsandother urnishingsecessaryo theirpassages.25

With respect o economicmotivations,herehasexisted or sometimea debate n thetrue

economic ffectsof massivemigration:ne20 SalvadorLorenzanan Faro de Vigo. Numero Especial, pp. 172-173.21The author's atheralwaysmaintained hat he was reluctant o leave Spainand

thathe wastricked nto leavingby his olderbrother.22 See laterparagraphsn the Andalusianmigrationo Hawaii.23 RamonBullonFernandez, l problema de la emigracion (Barcelona,914),pp. 32 f.24 J. Casaisy Santalo,Emigracion espomola,p. 9.

25 J. M. de Pereda," A LasIndias," scenas montcmesas,has a description f this.



R. A. GOMEZ 67

schoolof thoughtholdsthat emigrationesults n a loss of skilledorpoteniially killedmanpower hich s necessaryo a nation's conomic

health ndgrowth; he other ine of thoughtholds hatmassive migra-tion carries way an economic iability n the form of unemployablepopulation nd, n addition,may be the means or the introductionfnew income rom external ources.In the caseof Spain, here s im-pressive videncehatnew income n the formof savings arned broad,and then introducednto the Spanish conomy,by meansof moneyorders entback or the mostpart,hasbeena significantactor.26

EMIGRATIONROCEDURESSpainhasbeenadmirablyuppliedwith sea ports or the transporta-

tion of emigrants. ndeed, uchreadyoutlet o the sea may itselfhavebeena very mportantpur o emigration. glanceat the mapof Spainwill confirm hat thereare major ea ports ocatedvery convenientlyto all parts f the country-almosts if spaced y design or easyoutlet.Beginning n the north and movingaround he coast of Spain n acounter-clockwiseirection,we findBilbao,Santander, ijon,Coruna,

Vigo, Cadiz,Malaga,Almer1a, licante,Valencia, ndBarcelona.

The Galicianportsof Coruna nd Vigo havebeen the busiest m-barkationenters, arrying alfor moreof all the passengersnvolved.27Theseportshave erviced,n addinono Galicia, eighboring eonandAsturias.The secondbusiest roupof portsare n Andalusia-Almerla,Cadiz,and Malaga,which haveserved outhern pain. Barcelona asbeen mportants the embarkanonoint or passengersromCatalonia,

Aragon,Navarre,and the Balearic slands. Two other groupsareworthyof mention: he Cantabrianortsof Bilbao,Gij6n,andSantan-der (serving hat areaand someneighboring reas o the south) andthe portsof Palma ndTenerife n the Canary slands.

Until 1907 there was no substantialegislation n emigranon ro-cedure. There existeda scattered eriesof laws, royal decrees,andministerialules hatpertainedo the subject.28 entralo all thesewasthe establishedrinciple f freeemigrationo whichSpanish olicyhad

adheredor manydecades.Probablyhe basic aw was best expressedby the Royal Orderof 1888 which placed he responsibilityn the

26 Vicente BorregonRibes, Emigracio'nspanola,discusses his.

27 All ofiicial Spanishreports give details on ports of embarkation;ee especiallyConsejoSuperiorde Emigracion,Nuestraemigracio'nor los puertosespanoles n 1917.

28EduardoVincenti,Estudio obreemigracion Madrid,1908),pp. 26ff. gives a goodsurvey of law applicable ntil 1907.



68 SPANISHNUNITEDTATES

governorsf themaritimerovincesndport nspectors.A prospective

emigrantouldhave ocontactheofficialdomf themaritimerovince

throughhichhe proposedo leave.The law provided delayof

fifteenays o followarequestorclearance.Theserequirements,lus

therdinary urdlesn contactingovernmentalfficials, orkedmost

toheadvantagef residentsf maritimerovinces.f onewereto seek

departureroma foreignport,the law required oingthrough he

governorf one'sownprovince f residencendalso heSpanishonsul

inhe foreignport-a procedurehatsometimesrovedas convenient

aseavingroma Spanish ort. Emigration,herefore,f it were O be

legallyccomplished,adto be well planned ndmight nvolvecon-

siderableraveln Spaintself. In addition, llthishadto be gearedo

thepossibilityf securingpassage n a steamship.Also thereexisted

the roblem,nmanycases, f either ecuringlearancerom,orbuying

one'sway out of, military ervice.The law providedor buyingup

one'servicen themilitary ttherateof 2,000pesetas.

For a largenumberof prospectivemigrants,he aforementioned

complicationseantacting hrough gents f emigrationhonotonly

couldhandleheofficial omplicationsutalsocouldestablishontactwith teamshipines.Usually,n fact,theagentswereactively ngaged

intheinterest f a certainteamshipompany.

Clandestinemigration asverycommon.29 neformof thiscen-

teredon departureroma foreignport. GibraltarndBordeaux,on-

veniento thesouthandnorthrespectively, ereveryextensivelysed

forthatpurpose.Agentswereveryimportanto thisprocedureince

onehad o makepassageonnectionshrough distant ort n a foreign

country.The emigrant, hoosing his route,simply eft Spainas a

temporaryisitorandboardedhipunder hegeneraldirection f the

agent,andwithoutbotheringo clearthroughany officialdom.This

wasoccasionallyegunasa contract rrangement,he agentsn these

negotiationsftenbeingpaidso muchperhead.Agriculturalorkers

by the thousandsookthisroute O theAmericas.By thismethodof

emigrationne couldavoidcomplicationst homeor succeedwhere

thelegalroutehadfailedhim;and, n addition, emighthaveemploy-

mentpromisedim.

In usingthe clandestinehannels,he emigrantmightbe takinga

greatrisk,especiallywheninvolvedwithan unscrupulousgent. He

mightfindhimself trandedn a foreignport,either he victimof a

29 Consejo Superior,Emigracion,1911-191S, s quite candid about the subject.



R. A. GOMEZ 69

deception r the victimof having longer ime o awaitpassagehanhisfinancial osition llowed.Even oday heoffices f theSpanishnstitute

of Emigrationisplay oloredposterswarning gainst lacing ne's elfin the handsof agentswho conductclandestinemigration rocedure.

The precise umber f clandestinemigrantsanneverbe determined.A comparisonf figures ublished y Spain ndreceiving ountriesorthe sameyears ndicates, owever, hat clandestinemigrationn someyearsmayhaveapproached0 percentof all departures;panishiguresfor 191 -1915 ndicate t least25 percent.30

Whether egal or clandestine,he emigration rocedurerequentlybrought boutdistress.At manypointsalong he way hardships ightbe encountered.t might tartat homewith the diiculty of raisinghemoneynecessaryo makeall the arrangements;his mightrequire ub-mitting o usuriousates or loans,perhaps s highas 30 per cent,31 rotherwise ufferinginancially.Frequently n unnecessarilyigh com-missionwouldbe paid or the services f various eople nvolved-per-hapseven an occasional ublic official.Later, n the port, awaiting

transportation,herewere the preyingsharpstersf all kinds. Uponembarkinghe emigrantmight ind he third-classassage vercrowded,unsanitary,nd poorly fed. The journeymight take weeks (as forexample he Andalusians ho went to Hawaii) with fatalities longthe way. Uponarrivalheremightbe unemploymentnd or many helonelinessf separationromone'shomeand riends.

The Church as ong been distressedy not only the possibilitiesfthe miseries forementionedut alsoby the fact thatreligious evotion

appearso declineamong he newly-arrivedn foreignplaces. There-fore the Church astried o prevent s muchunjustifiedmigrationspossible ndalso o hold oreign ommunitiesf Spaniards orecloselyto theirold religious abits.A veryprominentfort for a timewastheorganizationf the Associationf SanRafael, -everalhapters f whichwere in evidenceby 1913.32Through his organizationttemptsweremade o remedy he adverse eligious,moral,and economic flTectsfemigration,articularlyn someof the ports.

With the passage f a comprehensivemigrationaw in 1907,newadministrative achinerywas provided: SuperiorCouncilof Emi-gration, ocaljuntas, ndmachineryor tighter nspectionn the ports

30bid.,p. 227.

31 onsejoSuperior,Nuestraemigraciotn,. 468.

32EncicZopedianiversaZlustrada Barcelona),XIX, 985.




of embarkation,ncludingmedical are.33Clandestinemigration asattacked ot only by the tightermachinery ut alsoby the attempt o

oSermoreaccessiblessistancen all the provinces.Clandestinemigra-tionwasnot haltedby theseapproaches,owever.

MODERNPANISHMMIGRATIONN THEUNITEDTATES

If it were not for the presence f very largenumbers f Spanish-speaking eopleof Mexicanand PuertoRicanorigin,Spanish amilynames n the UnitedStateswould be as scarceas Turkishnamesandwouldbe much carcer hanFinnish ames.34 lthoughSpain s num-beredamong he most migratory ations, nly a comparativelymallnumber f Spaniardsamedirectly o the UnitedStates.

In the nineteenthentury he number f Spaniards ho came o theUnited Stateswas quite insignificant,nly approximately2,000 re-portedby oicial U. S. figures rom 1820 o 1900,an average f about500peryear.35This wasnegligiblewhencomparedo the considerablenumbers f otherEuropeansomingduring he sameperiod.In much

of the reporting f that ime,Spainusually ppearedn the " all otherscategory.The censusof 1900showsonly 7,050Spaniardsmong heforeign-bornut of a totalof 10.3million oreign-bornf all origins.36They were argely esidentn fourmaritimetates:New York,Louisi-ana,California,ndFlorida in thatorderof significance).

The overwhelming ajority f the Spaniardsho came o the UnitedStatesdid so in the quarter-centuryrom 1900 hrough1924,particu-larlybeginningn 1903andwithespeciallyargenumbersn 1917,1920,

and 1921.37ndeed,30 per cent of themarrivedn the lastthreeyearsmentioned.Thus,Spanishmmigrationctually oncentrates,ndthenfalls to negligible umbers,n the shortspaceof five yearsbefore hepassage f the firstquota egislationn 1921. Somewhat ver 174,000Spanishmmigrantsame n the years1900 hrough1924;over 52,000of thesecame n the years1917,1920,and 1921; n 1922,as a resultofthe QuotaLawof 1921, he number roppedo 665.

33sibliotecaegislativae a Gacetae Madrid,ey y reglamento provisional paraZaaplicacio'nde lcz ey de emigracio'nde 1907 (Madrid,908).

34MexicansndPuerto icansrenot ubjecto quotas.35 nnuczlReport of the Secretary of Labor, 1923,appendsdetailedhartor the

years820-1923.

36 ee ablencc oreign-bornopulationyCountryf sirth inHistorical Statisticsof t1oeU.S., p.66.

37 aMnnual eport of the Secretary of Labor, 1923and924.



R. A. GOMEZ 71

Thefiguresofarmentionedre hoserepresentingrossmmigraiion.

Accounthasto be takenof thenumbersf Spaniardshoreturnedo

Spain fter heirarrivalntheUnitedStates.OfficialU. S.figuresndi-cate that from 1908 through1940, approximately2,000 Spaniardsreturnedo Spainrom heUnitedStates.38ot allof theseareactually

chargeableo theperiod rom1900 through 924, of course,butit is

onlyrealistico viewthereturneesn terms f thefullflowsincea high

percentagef them,certainly, rechargeableo the period.Thisex-

perience f emigrationf SpaniardsromtheUnitedStatess a signifi-

cant41 per cent, if takenas a ratioof 72,000 to the grossnumber

174,000; and,even f consideredstheemigratoryffectovera longerperiod, he percentagewouldbe very high. Manyreturnedduring

WorldWarI or in the slumpyears mmediatelyollowing hatcon-

flict;anextremelyargenumbereturnedfterthe first mpactof thegreatdepressionf the 1930's.

The net immigrationf Spaniardso the UnitedStates, hen,from1900 through 924 (butusing he 1908-1940 figuresor thereturnees)

wouldapproximate02,000. Certainly 10,000wouldbe a reasonably

safefigure o employ,allowingorvarious ontributionso theuncer-taintyof the official ecords.Thissmallnumber f Spaniardsormedthefoundationf theimpact f modern panishormedhefoundationof theimpact f modern panishmmigrationo theUnitedStates.

TheImmigrationctsof 1921 and1924 cutof Spanishmmigrationalmosto thevanishingoint.39 heQuotaLawof 1921, whichgeared

thenumber f immigrantsromEuropeanountrieso a ratioof three

percentof thenumberf eachcountryntheUnitedStates sof1910,

provided Spanish uotaof 912. The Act of 1924, however,which

wasaimed treducingeverelyheinfluxof southernndeastern uro-

peans,basedon two percentof 1890 numbers, rought he Spanish

quotadownsharplyo only 131peryear. Thisquotawasrevisedup-

ward o 252 in 1929.

A fewthousandpaniardsavecome o theUnitedStates ince1924

in additiono thesmallquotasprovided.Somecameasnon-quotam-

migrantsn accordance ithprovisionsllowing elativeso joinresi-dents n the UnitedStates.A verysmallnumberhavebeenadmittedthrough rivate illspassedntheCongress.

38 o figuresavailable efore1908.

39 harlesGordon and Harry N. Rosenfeld, ImmigrationLaw and Procedure

(Albany,1959)givesa good briefsurveyof U. S. immigraiionegislaiion, p. S ff.




Spaniardsor a few yearsbenefitedhrough pecial egislation.Actspassed n 1954, 1955,and 1956 provided or the admissionnto theUnitedStates f a totalof 1,135 heepherders,labor pecialtyn criti-

cally short upplyat the time.40Although he Acts did not singleoutSpaniardspecifically,he effectwas to admitSpanish ndFrenchBas-ques or the mostpart. The numbers dmitted, owever,were charge-able o national uotas nd heresultwas o mortgagehe Spanish uotasentirely hrough1960 and partially or a few yearsthereafter.Thisspecial egislation as not renewedn 1957dueto the recommendationof the Committeef the Judiciary f the Houseof Representativesna reportdeliveredn February, 957.41 he report hargedhat he pro-

visions f thethreebillshadbeensubject o abuses. t was chargedhatsomesheepherdersrought ver were actually ngaged n otherkindsof work; omewere not filingalienaddress ards; omewere violatingthe provisions f the SelectiveServiceAct; and some, t was charged,were brought ver in the firstplacewho were not sheepherderst all.Since hoseadmitted nder he specialbillswere considered ermanentresidents,ndnot temporary orkers, omeoutrage adbeenexpressedat the abuses.

The following ablewill serve o showthe general attern f settle-mentandmigrationf Spaniardsn the UnitedStates:

States in Order of Number of U. S. Residents IndicatingSpain as Country of Origin 1860-1950

1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950

La. La. N.Y. N.Y. N.Y. Cal. N.Y. N.Y. N.Y. N.Y.N.Y. N. Y. La. La. Haw. Fla. Cal. Cal. Cal. Cal.Cal. Cal. Cal. Cal. Fla. N. Y. Fla. N. J. Fla. N. J.

Fla. Cal. Haw. Pa. Fla. N.J. Fla.La. Ida. N. J. Pa. Pa. Pa.

Tex. Haw. Haw. Haw. OhioAriz. W.Va. Ohio Ohio Ida.

Ida. W. Va. W. Va. Mich.Ohio Mich. Ida. Conn.La. Nev. Mich. Nev.Conn. Ida. Nev. W. Va.Nev. Ill. Ill. Ill.

Tex. Conn. Conn. Mass.Ariz. Tex. Tex. Tex.42

Sinceonly stateshavebeen ncluded hatshow any significant umberof Spaniardst the timeof eachcensus, he firstservice he tableper-

40 85th Congress, st Session,House Report67 (1957).41 Ibid.

42 Compiled rom U. S. Bureauof the Census.censusf19SO.



R. A. GOMEZ73

formss to show helightdistribuiioneographicallyntil hecensus f1920. In addition,he followingobservations,n chronologicalrder,

* *

appearlgmecant:1. Until 1890 the Spaniardsn the UnitedStateswere largelycenteredn two naturalettings:New YorkCity, themajorportof entryformost hippingines,and hecenters f theoldSpanishcolonial nfluencen CaliforniandLouisiana.2. With the censusof 1890 we findrecordedhe firstmodernsettlementf Spaniardsn Florida, centerof concentrationhatis still mportantody. To someextentFlorida adbeena Spanish

interest romcolonialdaysbut had not furnished n attractionsimilaro thatNew Orleans rovidedorLouisiana.

3. The censusof 1900 brings nto the picture he beginning foneof themost pectacularovementsf Spaniardsnto heUnitedStates-Andalusianugarworkerswho went to Hawaii n verylargenumbers.Hawaii ppearsignificantlynthecensuses f 1890through1940, although movement o Californiaeganshortlyafter heirarrival ndcontinued ntilmosthadgone to themain-

landby 1920. The Californialow wasso strong hatCaliforniaout-ranked ew Yorkas a "Spanishtate in thecensusof 1910.

4. Intheyears rom1900 to 1910, a newpatterns introducednthemountainWestandSouthwest.Spaniardsegan urning p inthe greatgrazingands,particularlyn Idaho.

5. Finally, hecensuses f 1920 and1930, andcontinued ith ittlechangen 1940 and1950, showa movementreatlynfluenced ythe expansion f heavyindustryollowingWorldWar I. TheNew Yorkcontingent xpands ut into New Jerseyand Con-necticut;ppreciableumbersrediscoverednsuchndustrialtatesasIllinois,Michigan,Ohio,andPennsylvania;n WestVirginia refoundAsturianoalminers ndmetalworkers.

The censusof 1950 setsforththe following tateswith appreciablenumbers f residents hoclaimed pain scountryof origin.

New York 14,705 Michigan 890

California 10,890 Connecticut 886New Jersey 3,382 Nevada 815Florida 3,183 West Virginia 712Pennsylvania 1,790 Illinois 714Ohio 1,141 Massachusetts 659Idaho 985 Texas 604

Total: all states45,565 43

43 Ibid.



SPANISHNUNITEDTATES4

New YorkCityAre. Close o half(41percent)of allthoseSpan-iardswhoclaimed painascountryof origin n 1950 ived n thearea

of New YorkCity-that s, in New YorkCityitselfandnearbyCon-necticutandNew Jerseycommunities. hisurban ettlements char-acteristic f thelaterwavesof immigrationngeneral.The 1950censusshowsSpaniardstill largelyurbanwith only California,daho,andNevadandicatingnyappreciableural ettlement.

Spaniardsn New Yorkgathered t first n a number f tenementdistricts,speciallyn Brooklyn.TheseclusterswerefairlycompactntheirSpanishdentitywith closeassociationsociallyandwith wide

subscriptiono mutual enefit ocieties.44aborers,estaurantorkers,cigarsalesmen,eamen, ndsmall hopkeepersheywerefor themostpart,withverylargerepresentationromGalicia.Thenextgenerationmovedout into the general low of Americanife andmostof thesettlementsad ost heircompactnessythe ate1920's ndearly1930's.

TodaySpaniardsreto be foundscatteredn allpartsof thegreaterNew Yorkareawith somespecialconcentrationsn northernNewJerseyandGreenwichVillage.On anyfineday onecanfindgroupsof them nthevicinityof Columbus ircle.New York urnishesverywidely distributedpanishanguage ewspaper, a Prensa,whichisespecially vident odaydueto the greater irculationroughtaboutby thearrival f a veryconsiderableommunityf PuertoRicans.InNew YorkCitymaybefoundoffices f theCasaGalicia nd heCentroVascoAmericano,mong thermorebroadly efined rganizations.

Collifornior.ankingnextto New York s a largeconcentrationf

Spaniardsn California-about4percentof the1950 otal.Thesearefound argelyn theLosAngelesandSanFranciscoreas lthough p-preciableumbersre ettledntherichagriculturalalleys.

The SanFranciscoreahasa sizeable roup romallpartsof Spain.Thereis a specialqualityof Spanishepresentation,owever,n thattherearemanyAndalusians, ostof whomcamefromHawaii(seefollowing ection). SanFranciscolsohasa distinctive asqueouch;inthearea f BroadwayndColumbus venueareanumberf Basque

restaurantsndhotels.The UnionEspanola e California,he UnionEspanola enefica, Basquelub,andothers, rovideocialandmutualbenefitprograms. panish icnicsareheldfairlyfrequently nder hesponsorshipf oneormoreof suchorganizations.

44 See Prudenciode Pereda's ovel, Windmills n Brooklyn(New York,1960)for adelightfuldescriptionof a fictionalSpanishgroup basedon the author'syouth inBrooklyn.



R. A. GOMEZ 75

Inthe Los Angelesarea heemphasiss moreon northern paniardswho havebeenattractedo theheavyndustryuchas those nFontana,

thelocaiion f a Kaiserteelmill. TheSociedad e BeneficenciaMutuaisprominentn theareawithan officen Los Angeles.An organizaiionof great ignificanceo Spanishulturalnterestss also ocatedn LosAngeles: he Del Amo Foundaiion.The Foundation,oundedby Dr.GregorioDel Amo, is engagedn maintainingultural xchange ro-gramsbetweenSpainand southernCalifornia;ts secretarys EugenioCabrerowho came to the United States from the provinceofSantander.45

TheAndalusza-Haivolii-Colliforniaigroltion. neof themostnumer-ousgroupsof Spaniardsn theUnitedStates ame romthe sugarandfruitplantationsf Andalussao work n Hawaii.46 lthough numberhadarrivedarlier,mostcame n sixshiploadsn the years1907, 1911,

1912, and1913. This migrations oneof themore pectacularlandes-tineemigrationsromSpain,or Spanishecords arryno ofiRcialnu-meration f it. The shipssailed romGibraltarftercontactsweremade hrough gentsor theHawaiian ugarPlantersAssociation. or

the mostpart, he recruiiingookplace n the provinces f Almerla,Cadiz,Granada,ndMalaganAndalussalthoughomewerecontactedin Murcia.All togethern thesix shiploadsnvolvedweretransported7,735workers.The longjourneysooktheir ollin livesandsickness.47Theinducementserehowever, reat: ree ransportation,reehousingandguaranteedmploymentt a wagestipulatedn advance.

Shortlyafterthe firstmovementso Hawaii, he sugarworkersbe-came nterestedn movingon to themainland,o the cityof SanFran-ciscoandviciniJcy.Manywentto workaslaborersn thetaskof clean-ing up the city afterthe earthquakendfire of 1906. WorldWar Iattractedmoreof themandby 1920 mostof theoriginalworkershadmadehemove, ettlingn thecity orin otherBaycities uchasLeandro,Hayward, ndCrockett.Many ettlednnearby griculturalommuni-ties suchas MountainView and Sunnyvalewherethey owned,orworked n,fruitacreage.

45Mr.CabreroontributedhesectionnspainnF. J.srown nd .s. Roucek,Our Racial and National Minorities (NewYork, 937),p.388-394.46ee George. Schnack,ubjective Factors in the Migration of Spanish from

Hawaii to California,unpublished. A. thesis,tanfordniversity,940;lso, earing

on Immigration into Hawaii Before Committee on Immigration, U. S. Senate,7thcongress,st ession.

47 In sullon ernandez,migracio'n,Appendix,.76, heres a reprintf a newsstoryhat ppearedn Noticiero universal (sarcelona) arch 1912;t stateshatfortyhildrennd hreedultsiedn the Willisden enrouteo Hawaii.



R. A. GOMEZ 77

Basqueland. S. A. withSanFranciscoerving s a greatrecreationalcapitalorBasquesnmany tates.

Industrioll idivest.In the heartof the industrialmpireof theUnitedStates-in hemidwest longwithPennsylvaniandWestVir-ginia-a few thousandsf Spaniardsavesettled n the employmentpatterns resentedy heavy ndustry. n 1950 therewere5,157 Span-iards esidentn theindustrialtatesof Illinois,Michigan,Ohio,Penn-sylvania, ndWestVirginia.The mostcompact roupconsisted f aconcentrationf Asturian oalminerswho settled n West Virginiadecades goin suchnumberss to rank hatstateassixthor seventh

"Spanishtate" in the censuses f 1920, 1930, and1940. In additionto these, herewerealsometalworkersnotherWestVirginiaocations,suchas Clarksburg.n the steelcitiesof OhioandPennsylvaniaanbe foundGaliciansndVizcayans;n therubberactories f Ohioareothersof thesame egions.

Assimiloltion.hedescendantsf Spanishmmigrantsave,of course,moved nto the generalcoursesof Americanife and,exceptfor anoccasional

atheringuchas a Spanish icnic, heyareroughlycross-sectionalf thecitizenry f theUnitedStates.Thenumberf Spaniardswhocameas mmigrants,ndwhostayedpermanently,addwindledo45,456 accordingo thecensus f 1950,49argelyby virtueof thedeathsof the earlierarrivals.This numberwill undoubtedly iminish eryspeedily o a verysmallnumberby 1970. Thus,the alienSpaniardscomingnsuch inyquotasn thelast ortyyearswillbeunable o keepalive heSpanishdentityn theUnitedStates.

Spaniardsavedemonstrateddecided endency o clingto theirSpanishoots,as indicated y the highpercentagef themthathaveremainedliens.In the tsventy-yeareriod rom1923 through1942,only20,722 Spaniardsecame aturalizeditizens f theUnitedStates.50A fewmonthsater,n early1943, therewerestill39,670 Spanishliensaccordingo thealien egistrationwhichhad ustbeguntsnowannualenumeration).5lhisfigureapproximated0 percentof allSpaniardsthenin the UnitedStateswho claimedSpainas countryof origin;

further,t approximated5 percentof thewholenetnumber f immi-grants o the UnitedStates romSpain n moderndecades.With thecomingof WorldWarII,andto someextent n thelate1930's, many

49 HistoricalStatisticsof the U. S., p. 66.50 See AnnualReportof the lmmigration nd Naturalization ervice,19SO.51 Ibid.




thousandsf Spaniardsidbecome itizens, owever, nd n 1960 herewereonly 17,526 egistered panish liens.52

CONCLUDINGBSERVATIONS

Speakingmost broadly, he foregoingparagraphsurnish founda-tion uponwhich o builda number f generalizationsbout he numeri-cal andsocial mpact f Spanishmmigrationo the UnitedStates.

In spiteof the prevalence f Spanishamilynames n somepartsofthe UnitedStates,a smallnumber f Spaniardsamedirectly o theUnitedStates.The net number arrivalsess departures)n the periodfrom1900 hrough 924, heperiodwhichbroughtmostof them,wouldprobably umberessthan110,000.For the mostpart hey came n thefew yearsbefore he passage f the Immigrationct of 1924andtheirnumbers avebeennegligibleince hatAct.

Spanishmmigrationo the UnitedStateshasbeen but a very smallpartof Spanishmmigrations a whole. MostSpanishmigrants ent toLatinAmerica, articularlyo Argentina nd Cubawith somesmaller

numberso Brazil,Mexico,and Uruguay. Spanishmmigrantso theUnitedStates reperhapsen percentor lessof thetotal.

The settlement f Spaniardsn the UnitedStateshasresultedn fivemajorregional oncentrations:he New York City area,California,Florida(particularly ampa), the MountainWest, and a scatteredpattern n the industrialmidwest.There are vast areasof the UnitedStateswhere few would be found, particularlyhe grain-producingplains tates, he ruralmidwest, ndmostof the south. The settlement

pattern asbeen argelyurbanwith substantialural ettlement nly inCaliforniand he range ountryof Idaho ndNevada.Thereareveryfew Spanish ommunitiesn any compact ense oday;Tampa,Boise,andGary (WestVirginia) ffer omeaspects f this.

R. A. GOMEZUniversity f Arizona,Tucson,Arizona

52 Courtesyof Departmentof Justice, Immigration nd Naturalization ervice, byletter.

gomez_spanish immigration to the united states*

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