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Filipinos of Spanish descent
Notable Filipinos of Spanish descent: Manuel Luis Quezon, Andrés Bonifacio and Pilita Corrales
Total population
2% of the Philippine population
Regions with significant populations
Philippines: Metro Cebú, Metro Manila, Laoag, Zamboanga Peninsula, Iloilo, Bacólod and Davao ----- Spain: Barcelona, Madrid and Seville ----- Mexico: Acapulco, Culiacán, Guadalajara, Mexico City and Sonora ----- Latin America ----- Elsewhere
Languages
English, Spanish, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon, Tagalog and Chabacano
Religions
Roman Catholic
Related ethnic groups
Hispanics, Austronesians, Spaniards and Mexicans

Filipinos of Spanish descent (or Spanish-Filipinos) are a multilingual Filipino ethnic group composed of Philippine citizens with Spanish and Mexican ancestry. They consitute the seventh largest ethnic group in the country.

Contents 1 Ancestry 2 Physique 3 Distribution 4 Language and culture 5 Socioeconomic status 6 Recent immigration 6.1 Ethnolinguistic affinity 7 Prominent Filipinos of Spanish descent 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

Spanish or Mexican Filipinos descended partly from native Austronesian peoples mixed with Spanish and Mexican ancestry. They are generally referred to as Spanish-Mexican mestizos (Spanish: mestizos españoles/mejicanos, Filipino: mestisong Kastila, Kastilaloy); these comprise the majority of the Spanish Filipino population. According to genetic research, around 3.6% of all Filipinos have European or Amerindian ancestry from either Spanish, Mexican or American colonization. The descendants of Latin Americans of Spanish blood are also included.^[1] Of that figure, 2% are of Spanish or Mexican variety.

Filipinos of Spanish or Mexican descent are usually distinguished physically from other Philippine ethnic groups by their mixed appearance. Containing slightly rounder eyes and acquiline nose structures, compared to those of other Filipinos. Bone structures and skin color varies as Filipinos of Spanish or Mexican descents are mediterranean or latino in physique, and Filipinos have more oriental characteristics.

Most Filipino-Spaniards and Filipino-Mexican mestizos living in the Philippines emigrated to Spain, Latin America, or the United States, following World War II and during the Marcos regime. Today, Filipinos of Spanish or Mexican descent can mostly be found in Metro Manila, Central Luzón, the Visayas, Davao and the Zamboanga Peninsula where Chabacano (a form of Creole/Pidgin Spanish) is spoken.

Filipinos of Spanish and Mexican descent living in the Philippines mostly speak Tagalog and their respective regional languages (mostly Cebuano in regions like Cebu, Davao, and Zamboanga peninsula), Ilonggo (Iloilo and Bacolod), Ilocano, and Spanish Creole, Chabacano) in everyday discourse, while using English in the public sphere. Many, particularly those of older generations, have preserved Spanish as the spoken language of the home.

Apart from the everyday customs practiced in their respective regions in the Philippines, many of them maintain traditions brought over from Spain or Latin America.

Filipinos of Spanish descent currently constitute the great majority of both the upper and middle classes and rarely intermingle with those outside their ethnic group. Many are either in politics or are high-ranking executives of commerce and industry, entertainment and sporting ranks. Most elite Filipino family dynasties, political families and the elite clans are of Spanish origin. A number of Filipinos of Spanish and Mexican descent are also found in the lower classes.

According to a recent survey, the number of Spanish citizens in the Philippines regardless of ethnolinguistic affiliation was about 16,300, excluding Philippine citizens of Spanish descent. Spaniards are referred to as Kastila from the name Castile. The vast majority are Andalusians, while a minority are Catalans or Basques.

Castilians and Catalans combined account for 9,000 of Spanish citizens in the Philippines, while the Basques number about 7,300. Other peninsular ethnicities such as Galician were not distinguished from the Castilian and the Catalan, since all three speak the same language family, the Romance language family.

In Mexico, there are approximately 600,000 (0.6%) Mexican peoples who posses Filipino ancestry. [1]In Argentina and Venezuela, Filipino-mestizos total to 900,000 and 500,000 respectively.[2]

For a list of prominent or noteworthy Filipinos of Spanish descent, see Category:Filipinos of Spanish descent.

• Filipinos of Mexican descent
• Filipino mestizo
• Spanish language in the Philippines
• Tornatrás, the now-unused Spanish-era term term referring to mestizos of Spanish and Chinese ancestry
• Principalía, the ruling class during the Spanish era in the Philippines, comprised mainly of Austronesians and European mestizos

• Spanish mestizos in the Philippines, photos from AsiaFinest
• Color Q World: Asian-Latino Intermarriage in the Americas

The Filipino People | Ethnic Groups in the Philippines
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