Peninsulars


In the context of the Spanish colonial, a peninsular was a Spaniard born in Spain residing in the New World, Spanish East Indies, or Spanish Guinea. Nowadays, the word "peninsulars" makes reference to Peninsular Spain and in contrast to the "islanders", from the Balearic or Canary Islands or the territories of Ceuta and Melilla.
In the Portuguese Colonial Brazil, Portuguese people born in the Iberian Peninsula were known as reinóis, while Portuguese born in Brazil with both parents being reinóis were known as.
Spaniards born in the Spanish Philippines are called insulares.
Higher offices in Spanish America and the Spanish Philippines were held by peninsulares. Apart from the distinction of peninsulares from criollos, the castas system distinguished also mestizos of mixed Spanish and Amerindian ancestry in the Americas, and mixed Spanish and native Filipino, or Chinese in the Philippines, mulatos, indios, zambos and finally negros. In some places and times, such as during the wars of independence, peninsulares were called deprecatively godos or, in Mexico, gachupines. Godos is still used in the Canary Islands for the peninsular Spanish.
Colonial officials at the highest levels arrived from Spain to fulfill their duty to govern Spanish colonies in Latin America and the Philippines. Often, the peninsulares possessed large quantities of land. They defended Cádiz's monopoly on trade, upsetting the criollos, who turned to contraband with British and French colonies, especially in areas away from the main ports of call for the Flota de Indias. They worked to preserve Spanish power and sometimes acted as agents of patrol.