40% of the population of Latin America are unaware of the influence of Spain in the history of their country, to the point that 33 percent believe that other nations were the most influential in the 16th and 18th centuries.
This is clear from a study on Latin America carried out by the Elcano Royal Institute, a think tank, as part of the Spanish Image Barometer presented this Wednesday in Madrid.
To prepare it, last May some 4,000 interviews were carried out in the eight countries with the largest population in the region, at a rate of about 500 respondents per country: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru.
60 percent identify Spain as the country that exerted the greatest influence on their country’s history between the 16th and 18th centuries, while 33 believe it was other nations and 7 percent cannot name any.
The researcher at the Elcano Royal Institute Carmen González also stressed that the degree of knowledge about the Spanish influence “drastically decreases” as age decreases, so Spain “it is less and less present in the collective memory” of these societies.
Only the 48% of the youngest mention Spain as the country that had the most influence, compared to 73% of those who are over 65 years old.
This seems to indicate that the teaching of history among children and adolescents in the region is devoting less and less attention to that historical period of each country and, consequently, Spain is less and less present in the “collective memory”, González pointed out.
The survey reveals that Spain has a positive image in Latin America, with a rating of 6.9 out of 10, similar to France, Italy and the United States and below the leading country, Germany (7.5).
The majority of those surveyed highlight gastronomy, the Spanish language, Europe, bullfighting and football, said González, who highlighted that Spain awakens feelings of trust and sympathy in Latin America, greater among older people and among those who are ideologically on the right.
Furthermore, Spain appears as the third most attractive country for Latin American emigration, after Canada and the US, preferred destinations for people with a higher educational and professional level.
Regarding the measures that Spain could develop to improve relations with different countries, those surveyed cite those of facilitating the export of their products to Spain, promoting emigration and increasing Spanish investment and development aid.
Most of the interviewees (68%) does not know whether or not his country receives development aid from Spain, however, the assessment of the size and effectiveness of Spanish aid by those who do know it is notable (7.1 out of 10).
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
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