Spanish Britons Británicos españoles
Notable Spanish Britons: Queen Mary I of England, Michael Portillo, Helena Bonham Carter, Alfred Molina Natalia Tena, Roland Orzabal, Edward II, Olga Nethersole
Total population
Spanish Born (in 2001) 54,105 Total Spanish Briton Population est. over 200,000 estimated at around 0.2% of British population
Regions with significant populations
See Below
Languages
British English · Spanish ·
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic · Protestant · Jewish minority
Related ethnic groups
Spanish · Hispanics · British Latin American · Italian · Portuguese · Mediterranean · Greek Briton · Italian British

Spanish migration to the United Kingdom has occurred in large numbers since 1945. Today, many British people have ancestry originating in Spain, and for they Spanish culture plays a significant role in their lives^{citation needed}.

Spanish people are more widely spread in the UK than those originating from Portugal^{citation needed}and started to come to the UK at different times of the Twentieth Century.

History of Spanish settlement

In 1501, Catherine of Aragon came to London aged 15. After the early death of her first husband, she became Henry VIII’s first wife. Their daughter, Mary Tudor attempted to re-introduce Catholicism as the state religion during her own reign and married Philip II of Spain. Both women at that time brought the influence of Spanish culture to the royal court.^[1]

Spanish people first arrived in great numbers in 1945^{citation needed}after the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39, when political exiles began to settle mainly in Westminster, Kensal Town, Kensington, Chelsea, Ladbroke Grove and Camden. A republican government-in-exile sat in London until 1945, and a social and cultural centre was established at the Spanish House in Bayswater. Many came seeking work, skills and education after the economic crisis in Spain. Many more economic migrants arrived in the post-war years and from the 1980s onwards, many middle-class students began to come to London^{citation needed}. This may also include settlers from British territory of Gibraltar, as those people are British citizens and free to migrate to UK. Britons with Spanish blood from Philippines and Equatorial Guinea may be included here.

Demographics

The 2001 Census recorded 54,105 Spanish-born people were in United Kingdom, which is an increase of 15,500 from the 1991 census.

Although there are no real Spanish districts as such, It is estimated that around 25,000 Spanish people live in North Kensington, focused around the Spanish School in Notting Hill and around Victoria.^[2].

Other areas with Latin communities are Camden Town, Finsbury Park, Harrow and Wimbledon, with its people being well integrated into London society^{citation needed}.

Sub Groups

• Basques in the UK

Distribution

Please note that the list below only has information on Spanish born people residing in the UK. The numbers are likely to be much higher in 2008^{citation needed}, as well as those of Spanish descent.

• Whole of the United Kingdom
  • 2001 54,105 (0.09% of total UK population)

• East Midlands 1,824
• East of England 4,439
• London 22,479 - Currently up to 100,000 Londoner's are likely to be of full or partial Spanish descent
• North East England 738
• North West England 3,465
• Scotland 2,555
• South East England 9,786
• South West England 3,352
• Wales 1,155
• West Midlands 5,184
• Yorkshire and the Humber 6,128

Spanish Communities

The information below is based on British places with high concentrations of Spanish born people[1]

• East Midlands - Leicester
• East of England - Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, Norwich, Nottingham, Watford
• London - Camden, Chelsea, Hyde Park, Kensal Town, Kensington, South Kensington, Westminster
• North West England - Chester, Lancaster, Manchester, Southport
• Scotland - Edinburgh, St Andrews
• South East England - Brighton, Canterbury, Eastbourne, Folkestone, Guildford, Hastings, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading, Slough, Southampton
• South West England - Bath, Bournemouth, Bristol, Exeter, Swindon
• Wales - Swansea
• West Midlands - Birmingham, Tamworth
• Yorkshire and the Humber - Sheffield, Leeds

Hispanic Surnames

See: Hispanic Surnames in the United Kingdom

Famous Spanish Britons

Main article: List of Spanish Britons

British - Spanish Relations

See:

• British-Spanish relations

Twinnings

The list below is of British and Spanish town twinnings.

• Chesham, Buckinghamshire and Archena, Murcia
• Glasgow, Greater Glasgow and Barcelona, Barcelona
• Lymington, Hampshire and Almansa, Castile-La Mancha
• Manchester, Greater Manchester and Córdoba, Andalucía
• Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and Alcalá de Henares, Madrid
• Plymouth, Devon and San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa
• Sherborne, Dorset and Altea, Alicante
• Stafford, Staffordshire and Tarragona, Tarragona

See also

External links

• London Spanish Language Meetup Group

References