Afro-Spaniards are
Spanish people
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...
of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
n descent, including North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and those of
Afro-Caribbean
Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Indigenous peoples of Africa, Africans (primarily fr ...
,
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
or
Afro Latin American
The afro is a hair style created by combing out natural growth of afro-textured hair, or specifically styled with chemical curling products by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair.Garland, Phyl"Is The Afro On Its Way Out?" '' Ebo ...
descent. The Spanish government does not collect data on ethnicity or racial self-identification.
Defining Afro-Spaniards
Even though no official census data include racial or ethnic self-identification in Spain, some attempts have been made to quantify the number of Afro-Spaniards. Crossing the data of two official studies, there are at least 1,029,944 Afro-Spaniards, of whom a 47% were born in Spain and a 71% are Spanish nationals.
There are currently 1,301,296 Spanish residents who were born in countries in the African continent, excluding the 1,802,810 born in
Ceuta
Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...
,
Melilla
Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...
, and the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
, which are Spanish provinces, and, in the case of Ceuta and Melilla, autonomous cities geographically located in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
.
Out of these, 294,343 are Spanish citizens and 1,006,953 are foreign residents. The large majority of these originate in
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
. There are 934,046 Moroccan born residents in Spain of which 223,590 are Spaniards and 710,457 are foreign residents. However, Moroccans being North Africans, they are usually not considered as Afro-Spaniards unless they are Black Moroccans, or have visible physical features usually associated with Black peoples. Non-Moroccan African-born residents in Spain thus number 367,250 of which 70,753 are Spanish citizens and 296,497 are foreign residents.
According to the national statistics agency, in 2019 there were 361,000 residents in Spain whose mother was born in an African country excluding Morocco. Out of these 91,000 were Spanish citizens.
Notable people
Academics and scientists
*
Antumi Toasije, historian and activist
*
Justo Bolekia Boleka, philologist and writer
Artists and writers
*
Elvira Dyangani, art curator
*
Juan Latino, poet and
Renaissance humanist
*
Bisila Noha, ceramist
*
Juan de Pareja
Juan de Pareja ( – ) was a Spanish painter. Born enslaved, he is known primarily as a member of the household and workshop of painter Diego Velázquez, who freed him in 1650. His 1661 work ''The Calling of Saint Matthew'' (sometimes also refer ...
, painter of Morisco origin born in Antequera.
Explorers and conquistadores
*
Juan Valiente
Juan Valiente (1505? – 1553) was an African-Spanish conquistador and encomendero. He participated in the expeditions of Pedro de Alvarado in present-day Guatemala and Peru and Pedro de Valdivia in Chile. Taken into captivity as a slave in Afri ...
*
Juan Garrido
Juan Garrido (c. 1480 – c. 1550) was an Afro-Spaniard of Kongo origin ''conquistador'' known as the first documented Bantu person in what would become the United States. Born in the Kingdom of Kongo in West Central Africa, he went to Portugal ...
*
Beatriz de Palacios
Beatriz de Palacios was a Spanish woman soldier, nurse and explorer of African and Spanish descent who took part in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. She is widely considered to be one of the first people of African ancestry to set foot i ...
In entertainment and media
Philanthropists
*
Bisila Bokoko
Bisila Bokoko (born June 26, 1974) is a Spanish-born American businesswoman. She is the founder and CEO of BBES (Bisila Bokoko Embassy Services) a New York-based business development agency that represents, promotes and markets brands internatio ...
Politicians
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Rita Bosaho
*
Basha Changue
*
Luc André Diouf
*
Ignacio Garriga
*
Dolores Johnson Sastre
*
Serigne Mbayé
In sports
See also
*
Afro-Hispanic people
Black Hispanic and Latino Americans, also called Afro-Hispanics, Afro-Latinos, Black Hispanics, or Black Latinos, are classified by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget, and other U.S. government agencies as Black ...
*
Fernandino peoples
The Fernandino people are creoles, multi-ethnic or multi-racial populations who developed in Equatorial Guinea (Spanish Guinea). Their name is derived from the island of Fernando Pó, where many worked. This island was named for the Portugues ...
*
Spanish Guinea
Spanish Guinea () was a set of Insular Region (Equatorial Guinea), insular and Río Muni, continental territories controlled by Spain from 1778 in the Gulf of Guinea and on the Bight of Bonny, in Central Africa. It gained independence in 1968 a ...
*
Spanish Equatoguineans
The Spanish diaspora in Equatorial Guinea is made of people of Spanish ancestral origin who are residents born or living in Equatorial Guinea. This group is closely linked with the Fernandino people, a creole people who developed Spanish Gui ...
*
African immigration to Europe
African immigrants in Europe are individuals residing in Europe who were born in Africa. This includes both individuals born in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.
History
The Roman Emperor Septimius Severus was born in Leptis Magna in North ...
*
Equatorial Guinean immigration to Spain
*
Racism in Spain
Sources
*
Appiah, Kwame Anthony;
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.(1999).
Africana: the Encyclopedia of African and African American Experience.
Basic Civitas Books, pp. 1769–1773. .
References
{{Immigration to Spain
Spaniard
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...
Spanish people of African descent
African diaspora in Europe