Hispanidad: Much More Than a Heritage by Jesús A. Rojo

When we speak of Hispanidad, we are not referring to a date or to a dusty memory.
We are speaking of a living community of nations, peoples, and cultures that stretches from the peaks of the Andes to the banks of the Guadalquivir; from the Amazonian jungles to the Castilian plains.

Hispanidad is the language we share, but it is also much more:

The common faith that raised churches and cathedrals.
The culture that fused indigenous wisdom with European humanism.
The mestizo blood, a synthesis of the best of two worlds.

Peru: Cornerstone of Hispanidad

If one nation embodies the heart of Hispanidad, it is Peru. Here rose the greatest pre-Columbian civilizations, and here Spain encountered a people with deep roots.
From that encounter was born Hispanic Peru, cradle of saints such as Rose of Lima and Toribio de Mogrovejo, a land of sages, poets, and warriors.

The Viceroyalty of Peru was the most powerful and extensive in the world. From Lima radiated power, culture, and faith across the Pacific. At its height, it encompassed territories that today include Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama.

Peru, the nerve center, with Lima as its capital.
Bolivia (Upper Peru), with the immense wealth of Potosí.
Ecuador and Colombia, integrated until the creation of the Viceroyalty of New Granada.
Chile, under the Royal Audiencia.
Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, until the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (1776).
Panama and Venezuela, until 1739.

This demonstrates that Peru was the administrative and spiritual axis of all South America.

Integration of the Inca Nobility

The Viceroyalty was not only about domination, but also about integration. The Inca nobility was incorporated into the new viceregal structure with titles, privileges, and recognition.

Castilian hidalgo titles were granted to Christianized Incas.
In Cusco, the Royal Standard-Bearer’s office was created, bringing together the panacas and electing the royal ensign, who carried the mascapaicha and presided over public ceremonies.
Leaders such as Sayri Túpac reached agreements with the Crown, receiving lands and honors.
Others, like Pau Inca and Carlos Inca, embraced Christianity and were fully integrated.

Thus, the grandeur of Tahuantinsuyo did not vanish; it found new channels within the nascent Hispanidad.

Education: Universities and Colleges

One of the greatest legacies of the Viceroyalty was education.

The University of Santo Tomás de Aquino in Santo Domingo (1538) was the first in the Americas. In 1551, the National University of San Marcos was founded in Lima, the oldest continuously operating university in the Americas. That same year, the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico was established.

During the colonial era, Spaniards founded more than 25 universities in the Americas, among them:

Córdoba (1613, Argentina).
San Francisco Xavier (1624, Sucre, Bolivia).
Javeriana (1623, Bogotá).
San Carlos (1676, Guatemala).
Havana (1728).
San Antonio Abad (1692, Cusco).

By contrast, the Portuguese did not establish a single university in Brazil during the colonial period.

Schools for indigenous nobles were also created, such as San Pablo in Lima and San Francisco de Borja in Cusco, as well as schools for women in Cusco, Ica, Trujillo, and Arequipa. The Colegios Mayores functioned as student residences, notably San Pablo in Lima, directed by the Jesuits.

The First Indigenous Grammars

The evangelizing mission also produced the first grammars of indigenous languages—long before England and France had grammars for their own tongues.

Arte de la lengua mexicana (Nahuatl), by Fray Andrés de Olmos (1547).
Arte de la lengua de Michoacán (Purépecha), by Maturino Gilberti (1558).
Grammar of the General Language of the Indians of the Kingdoms of Peru (Quechua), by Domingo de Santo Tomás (1560).

The first English grammar was printed in 1586—almost 40 years after Olmos’s work. French did not have a systematic grammar until the founding of the Académie Française in 1635.

Thus, Hispanidad was a pioneer in dignifying and codifying indigenous languages.

World Heritage Cities

Spanish urbanism transformed the Americas. Today, UNESCO recognizes 27 Hispanic American cities as World Heritage Sites: Mexico City, Oaxaca, Puebla, Morelia, Querétaro, San Miguel de Allende, Campeche, Tlacotalpan, Santo Domingo, Havana, Cartagena, Quito, Cusco, Lima, Arequipa, Sucre, Potosí, Antigua Guatemala, Granada, León Viejo, Colonia del Sacramento, Córdoba, among others.

In total, Spaniards founded more than 200 cities in the Americas during the 16th and 17th centuries, many of which are now modern capitals.

Hospitals and the Balmis Expedition

Christian charity established hospitals such as the Royal Hospital of San Andrés in Lima. But the pinnacle of Hispanic medicine came with the Royal Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition (1803–1806), led by Francisco Javier de Balmis.

It was the first global vaccination campaign in history, bringing the smallpox vaccine from Spain to the Americas and Asia. To keep the vaccine alive during the voyage, 22 orphaned children were used, passing the inoculation from arm to arm. The expedition traveled through the Canary Islands, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, the Philippines, Macao, and Canton, saving millions of lives.

This was the first great international humanitarian mission in public health.

Humboldt and Hispanic Prosperity

The great scientist Alexander von Humboldt traveled through the Americas and left a revealing testimony:

In his Political Essay on the Island of Cuba (1826), he highlighted the island’s prosperity under Spain, its commercial openness, and Havana’s refined culture.
In 1810, he noted that in Cuba 64% of the population was free, compared to only 19% in the British colonies.
He emphasized that Spanish law favored manumission and that Havana society was among the most cultured in the Americas.
In Mexico he wrote: “The miners of New Spain are the best paid in the world,” earning up to seven times more than in Germany.
From Cumaná he wrote: “I see no peoples happier than those governed by Spain.”

An irrefutable testimony against the Black Legend.

Rosendo Porlier: The Hispanic First to Reach Antarctica

The Hispanic epic reached the ends of the Earth. In 1819, Peruvian-born naval officer Rosendo Porlier, commanding the ship San Telmo, was shipwrecked near Cape Horn, and his crew landed on unknown lands: Antarctica.

Unknowingly, Porlier and his men became the first to set foot on that continent. Yet official history silenced this fact, later attributing it to British and Norwegian explorers.

To remember Rosendo Porlier is an act of historical justice: Spain, too, was a pioneer at the planet’s last frontier.

A Living Legacy

To speak of Hispanidad in Peru is to speak of ourselves.
It is to remember that we are not orphans of history, but heirs to a shared greatness.

Hispanidad built universities, schools, hospitals, and cities; it dignified languages, fostered cultures, carried faith and education, and launched the world’s first global health campaign. Even in the remote lands of Antarctica, a Peruvian-Spanish figure inscribed the name of Hispanidad in history.

May the pride of being Hispanic never fade within us.
May we never forget that we are part of an immense family that speaks the same language, prays to the same saints, sings the same songs, and dreams the same dreams.

Long live Peru, long live Spain, and long live eternal Hispanidad!