Hispanidad

The Hispanic flag

Spanish-speaking nations

Europe  Spain Americas  Argentina  Belize (The official language is English, but Hispanics number 53% of the population)  Bolivia  Chile  Colombia  Costa Rica  Cuba  Dominican Republic  Ecuador  El Salvador  Guatemala  Honduras  Mexico  Nicaragua  Panama  Paraguay  Peru  Puerto Rico  Uruguay  Venezuela Africa  Equatorial Guinea (Official but not native)  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Mostly as second language) Asia (in some interpretations of panhispanism)  Philippines (formerly, with only few native speakers today)

Panhispanism (Spanish: panhispanismo) (usually just called "hispanism" (Spanish: hispanismo)) is a political trend aimed to achieve social, economic, and political cooperation, as well as often political unification, of the Spanish-speaking countries, mainly those of Hispanic America. It focuses principally on the former Spanish Empire's territories in North, Central and South America. It has been present consistently in literature, revolutionary movements, and political institutions. The term may be also used to talk specifically about projects of Hispanic American unity held by Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín, despite Hispanic areas outside the Americas not included in this definition.

Background

The Spanish colonization of America began in 1492 and ultimately was part of a larger historical process of world colonialism through which various European powers incorporated a considerable amount of territory and peoples in the Americas, in Asia, and in Africa between the 15th and the 20th centuries. Hispanic America became the main part of the vast Spanish Empire.

Due to Napoleon's invasion of Spain from 1808 to 1814 and the consequent chaos, the dismemberment of the Spanish Empire was initiated as American territories began to move towards independence. The only remaining Spanish holdings in the Americas were Cuba and Puerto Rico by 1830^[1] until the 1898 Spanish–American War.

Present-day developments

In the Hispanic world today, panhispanism is largely anti-American^[2] and opposes "Anglo-Saxon" influence in general in Hispanic territories, viewing it as imperialist.^[3] Social media has also been identified as a catalyst for a resurgence in panhispanic sentiment.^[4] YouTubers such as "Brigada Antifraude" and Santiago Armesilla are popular proponents of panhispanism, having channels with thousands of views and subscribers, in which they defend the idea of a Hispanic union and attack the Black Legend.^[5] In Puerto Rico, there exists a movement to reunify the island with Spain as its proposed 18th autonomous region,^[6] and in Peru, right-wing protestors have been seen carrying the old flag of the Spanish Empire.^[7] In 2022 the organization Parlamento Global Hispano (English: Hispanic Global Parliament) was created as an international Hispanic provisional assembly aiming to move the Hispanic world towards economic and political integration;^[8] its first elections were held from September to October.^[9]