Compreendendo a imigração espanhola no Pará (1896-1899): um estudo a partir das passagens grátis como fontes de informação

Abstract

It discusses the free tickets granted to Spanish immigrants to settle in Pará State (1896-1899), Brazil, as a source of information. It uses quantitative documentary research to understand the factors that motivated Vigo-Spain/Belém-Brazil migration, as well as to build a profile of the Spanish settlers. Based on a documentary sample from the Spanish immigration archives in the custody of the Arquivo Público do Estado do Pará, the research brings together information on the 792 Spaniards who obtained free tickets. The information recorded on these tickets indicates the origin, boarding ships, gender, age, civil status and occupation of the people in focus. The arrival of the Spanish is associated to changes in the Spanish economy, the 'whitening' of the Brazilian population policy and the need to populate the Brazilian Amazon. The migrants are mostly male, working age and peasants. With the existence of few sources of information on the Spanish presence in Pará, it is important to preserve and diffuse this documentary heritage. In this direction, the search for national and intenational tecnique cooperation is a necessary strategy to archival institutions that guard documents of Spanish immigration in Brazil.