Hey everyone, I'm new here...but I am hoping to be a pretty active member very soon as I will be traveling to Spain for a 6-month study abroad at USC in Galicia during the Spring of 2006.

Anyway...I am doing lots of reading about Spain regarding the country and the culture, and one thing I have found is that there is this huge rift between the Mexicans and the Spanish...but I guess more specifically, between the entire Hispanic world and Spain.

What is the root of this? Is it purely due to the conquistadors of the 1400s and 1500s, or is it something else, as well?

I did a forum search before posting this topic, but I didn't really find anything helpful...so yeah.

Gracias :-)

That huge rift separating Spain and the Hispanic World is called the Atlantic Ocean

Seriously, while I haven't studied it, I thought Spain currently has relatively friendly relations with most, if not all, Central/South American countries. Or, if there is a rift between these countries and Spain, that rift is much smaller than the one separating these countries from any other European country or from the US or Canada.

It is difficult to explain, but I will try...

In hispanic countries of South and Central America people has been grown up studying a politized version of history, in which the spanish were the conquerors and invaders and the natives and spanish descendants were heros. It was a way of rising national proud and it works everywhere (including the USA).

Therefore, it is usual that people in these countries are somewhat beligerant with spaniards. The usually make a comment or two about how bad the spaniards were, and how criminal the invasion was (no matter that our ancestors remained in Spain and theirs were the ones who conquered their countries).

But that's the surface (in most cases), since most of these people adore Spain and consider it a kind of second home and a country to imitate. When south and central americans emigrate from their country they choose Spain as one of their preferred destinations (there are lots of equatorians, colombians and argentinians in Spain).

Therefore, it would be more accurate to say that mexicans have a mixture of feelings regarding Spain and the spaniards

Perhaps someone can add something more about this topic. This is just my point of view (I'm a spaniard) based on my impressions when talking people from South America.

Fernando

I've been to Spain twice before and I'm going again next week to Madrid.I'm an American born Mexican and I never had attitude problems from anybody in Spain.I remeber going to restaurants in Avila,Segovia,Barcelona etc and I was always treated like an old friend.They were excited to speak with me when they found out I was Mexican.My traveling partner who is French Canadian even noticed that.
My family always looked up to Spain as the mother country from the past.We know the history as just that and those strong opinions don't exist.
Maybe if I was born in Mexico I would have thought different but even my Mexican friends never speak bad about Spain.They all want to visit some day.Mexicans love Spain and appreciate the culture.
I think anybody in Latin America stating anything bad about Spaniards would be very rare and ignorant.We are a blend of Sapnish and Indian so we would be talking about ourselves.They are our grandparents.

You consider Spain to be a mother country of Mexico? Really?

Hm...I don't see the connection, really. The Mexicans are descendants of the Aztecs and Mayans, and the Spanish are descendants of older Spanish people...quite a difference, I'd say.

Of course, these days, cultures are so criss-crossed it's not even funny...I guess the only OBVIOUS difference is that Mexicans have dark skin, and Spanish have white skin.

Thanks for the info!! :-)

I don't know much of the history on this but from my personal experiences, there are not good feelings between the two countries. But I think really it depends on each person. I work with quite a few mexicans at my job and one of my bosses is Mexican. He was fussing tonight that he does not like the accent of Spain nor the Spanish. And most of the other Mexicans agreed with him. I personally prefer the Spanish I learned in Spain over what I learn here. I stayed with a Spanish family in Spain and my friend and her friends were quick to correct me if I said something "Mexican" they would not make a huge deal out of it but they would let it be known that they did not like that version and would teach me their version of the word/phrase.

How was your experience living with a Spanish family?

Mexico is a blend of Spanish and Indian people.There are both dark and white skinned Mexicans.There are alot of old Spanish families there that have not mixed.There are others that are blended and have some traits from both sides.
Just like any country there are variations.
Of course they believe Mexico to be their own mother country but they look up to Spain in many ways with a connection from the past.
I guess my point is nobody talks about the conquest aside from a historical fact.It's not the subject that still comes up often.
Almost all of them have a Spanish family name.
There are very few original Indian people left.
There is also the fact that not a whole lot is known about the Indian past.There are some dances and stories but aside from that very few people in Mexico connected to the Indian past.
They seem to have more of an American influence in alot of ways.
As for language differences I hear the same comments from all people who share the same language no matter what it is.English,French Spanish etc.Everybody prefers the way they speak and doesn't like the sound of thier language being changed.

An alarming number of very well educated Mexicans I work with STILL talk about the conquista and openly say that they dislike being among Spaniards because they believe Spaniards treat them as the conquered people...the "booty", if you will, of Spain's reign in the Americas. The MECHA movement here in the Southwest has added fuel to the fire and many Mexican Americans completely denounce Spain. Read the latest works of Rudolfo Anaya for a taste of the attitude I'm talking about. I was the bilingual coordinator of a school here for many years and still work with the population and I can tell you that I never ran into a single Mexican or Mexican American that "looked up" to Spain in any way. In fact, if you look at any of the areas where you have a large indigenous population, you'll notice that Columbus Day is a day of infamy!

As for there not being any Native populations left...boy, that's a pretty strong statement. The Tarahumara are probably as pure Indian as you can get, and I'd bet as you get further south you'll find more pockets of native peoples...particularly in poor, mountain areas. Oaxaca and Chiapas still have a lot of pure natives, and even among tribes like the Yaqui and Maya you have people who, while not 100% perhaps, are pretty darned close.

I was in vacation in Mexico 4 years ago. In a few places I identified myself as a Spaniard thinking it'll be easier for the locals to talk to me in Spanish instead of English (stupid me) and got only rudeness. Since those experiences I only spoke English and said I was American, what a difference!! Even the books they have at the hotel rooms talked awful about Spaniards.
How many Mexicans do you know live in Spain? They're all here in the U.S. Obviously there's a reason for them to do that. Yes, they hate us, and no, they don't look up to us.
All I can say is, it's a pity that for something that happened 500 years ago and we (actual Spaniards) have nothing to do with it, we get this kind of treatment. Get over it, I don't hate Moorish for invading Spain in the 700s!