Revisiting Why Spaniards Migrated to Spain’s Colonies of Puerto Rico and Cuba: Experiences of a Catalan Family in the 1800s

Volume 48 Issue 1

Author(s):

James W. Cortada - Independent Scholar

Recommended Citation:

Cortada, James W. (2023) “Revisiting Why Spaniards Migrated to Spain’s Colonies of Puerto Rico and Cuba: Experiences of a Catalan Family in the 1800s,” Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies: Vol. 48 : Iss. 1 , Article 4.

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Abstract:

This essay explores the experiences of one family and one Catalan community (Begur in Gerona) immigrating to Cuba and Puerto Rico in the nineteenth century. We begin by discussing what Catalans learned about the Caribbean, because they came to possess considerable knowledge and intimacy with the region. Next, we rely on what Catalan historians have uncovered about moves to the Caribbean, particularly about Begur and the general province of Gerona, adding particulars of one local family. We explore why the youth of Begur left for the New World, introducing this new scholarship to the readers of this journal. Engaging with historians of immigration is kept to a minimum, but not ignored, since this topic is well-trod ground, saving space for explaining what occurred with this one family and community. It concludes about the specific effects such migrations had on both its participants and on the home villages in Spain, particularly on how the identity of a family evolved over multiple generations. The article demonstrates what micro-case studies of a family can reveal about migrations from Spain to the New World.

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