Associations, press and culture among Spanish immigrants of San Juan, 1871-1913. Pérez Rivera, Jaime M. . University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras (Puerto Rico), ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2002. 3048780.
ABSTRACT
Spanish associations, specially the Spanish Casino of San Juan, played an important role in the process of uniting mainly middle and high sectors of Spanish immigrants, since it was an essential part of the migratory system. But as the same time it interacted—at times in a conflictive manner—with Spanish and USA representatives in the Island and with different sectors of the Puerto Rican society. The press was one of the means of communication, used by this sector of the Spanish colony to promote their social, political, economic and cutural vision. These associations were characterized by its heterogeneity and complexity both and the end of XIX century and at the beginning of XX century. Within the turn of the century context, some of these associations—which were not mere centers of recreation but also centers of masculinity, socialization and rites of passage for immigrants—promoted the political and cultural integration of Spanish nationality. But on the other hand, there were at the same time, other associations that although identified with the Spanish State, promoted regionalism, such as: the Asturian Center and the Galician Center. After the 1898 events, Spanish associations continued, although now within the framework of a new political reality, which precipitated a reorganization and development to promote a defense of Spanishood. It can be said that the Spanish associations, specially the Casino, mainly represented a cultural continuation in the post 1898 Puerto Rico, but with new meanings, given that they promoted a Hispanic and Iberoamerican cultural policy, born in the political and cultural context of the end of XIX Century and developed and inspired by the new realities after the 1898 crisis. Although the Spanish Casino of San Juan continued being the most important association, there were also other associations, which promoted iberoamericanismo and/or regeneracionismo.