Basque Mexicans (
Spanish: vasco-mexicanos or simply vasco,
Euskara: euskal-mexikar) are
Mexicans of full, partial, or predominantly Basque ancestry, or Basque-born persons living in Mexico.
In 1907, the Basque community founded the Centro Vasco. This community consisted of immigrants from
Navarre,
Gipuzkoa,
Biscay and some
French Basques.[2] There was a divide between the Basque community: the first group were rural unskilled, economic emigrants that arrived in the late 19th and early 20th century and the other were political exiles of the
Spanish Civil War that tended to have technical or academic education.[3]
A notable migrant of the former group was Braulio Iriarte who immigrated to Mexico in 1877 with no education or professional experience.[3] He began as an employee in a bakery and after years of hard work he owned 80 bakeries and a mill. This mill, El Euskaro, founded in 1906 was one of the largest in Mexico.[3] He also owned
haciendas in
Querétaro, mines in
Hidalgo, large properties in
Mexico City and helped found various corporations, including
Grupo Modelo.[3]
Notable Basque-Mexicans
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, self-taught scholar and poet of the Baroque school, and nun of New Spain.
Mexico portal 1 Jews and Romani originate in the Middle East and South Asia respectively, with most arriving to Mexico via Europe · 2 Primarily arrived via Canada · 3 Originated in what is now the United States