EMIGRATION IN GALICIA

(By Manuel de Oliveira and Sergio Soto. Translated by 4º ESO)

Even though the causes for Galician emigration were explained in the past by the “spirit of adventure ” of Galician people, nowadays we know that very difficult economic and social conditions caused the emigration. We can define emigration as “ the movements of work forces from one country or region to another in which there is a different economic situation and grater development”.

1. GALICIAN SOCIETY WAS FORMED BY:

· Noble men and churchmen got money by renting the fields to the peasants. The intermediaries were called “caciques” , who were low noblemen or rich bourgeoises.

· The peasants paid the rents to the owners of the land. They had to pay in kind even though the harvest was bad. As they got poorer and poorer, they found a way out in emigration.

2. A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY:

· The XVIII century

Emigration starts in the XVIII century, when Galician people emigrated for short periods, to Castilla during the harvest of wheat and to Andalucía to pick olives.

About 30.000 men and women left Galicia every year. The young men preferred to emigrate rather than be sent to fight in the wars (Cuba, the Philippines, north of Africa…)

Not all of them came back, some died because the working conditions were very hard or because they were assaulted to be robbed of their money. Some stayed in the cities working as watermen, masons, women as servants,etc

· The XIX and XX centuries

In the XIX century the American republics which were under Spanish domination became independent. Workers are needed to export raw materials and to start a process of industrialization.

Between 1.870-1.910 Galicia lost 500.000 people due to the emigration. The provinces that began the exodus to America were A Coruña and Pontevedra, then Ourense and Lugo.

At the beginning of XX century many families left the rural areas and went to look for work in cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao…, but more important was the emigration to America of young men from rural areas. The most common destinations were Argentina, Cuba, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and later,after the civil war, to Venezuela and Mexico.

Many Galician people also emigrated towards Europe because at the end of the second World War, and with the arrival of North American money, many workers were needed to rebuild the European countries. Galicia sent a very large amount of emigrants, that’s why Galicia lost its youngest and most energetic population. From 1.962 to 1.976 Galicia lost 260.000 people that emigrated to Europe.

3. CONSEQUENCES:

“You can´t talk about Galicia without talking about emigration” as Silverio Cañada said.

After a lot of centuries of emigration every aspect of Galician society was affected, A lot of writers in the centuries XIX and XX treated the subject of emigration in their works( Rosalía, Castelao, etc.), but also painters, photographers,etc. Today Galicia is a community economically poorer than others in Spain. Galician culture isn´t promoted as much as the economy.

The greatest movement of Galician population to Cuba, Argentina and Brazil takes place between 1860 and 1936. After the civil war the borders are closed for a few years for emigrants -except for political exiles-, but in the 50s the emigration went back to Argentina and to a new destination, Venezuela. At the same time, Galician people start to emigrate to Europe -United Kingdom, France, Germany and Switzerland- and also to the large industrial zones in Spain: Cataluña, Euskadi and Madrid. This process stops in the first years of the 70s.

Because of the emigration of young people, the situation in Galicia got worse. Great painters like Laxeiro or Castelao reflected Galician society very well during those years, including the fact of emigration , that was expressed in their pictures and writings.

Galician culture, prohibited during the dictatorship, was continued by writers and intellectual people who emigrated to American countries, founding institutions and Galician culture centers there. The most important cultural centers were in Buenos Aires, in Argentina and in La Habana, in Cuba, because there were many Galician people who went to these countries to look for fortune.