Indiano

thumb|Palace of the Marquis of Manzanedo, now the Town Hall of [[Santoña (Cantabria). Note the palm tree in front of the entrance.]] thumb|Casa de los Ceas in Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba, known as [[Casa del Indiano because it was bought by the wealthy indiano Juan Cosme Paniagua.]] thumb|Pazo de Trasariz, in [[Vimianzo (A Coruña).]] Indiano was the colloquial name for the Spanish emigrant in America who returned enriched, a social typology that had become a literary cliché since the Golden Age. The name was extended to their descendants, with admiring or pejorative connotations depending on the case.

The Indianos became local leaders in the era of caciquismo (late 19th and early 20th century), a period in which large contingents of young people, especially from regions with easy access to the sea, such as Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Catalonia and the Canary Islands, were forced at that time to do what was known as the Americas: emigrate in search of a better fortune in Latin American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela. In some cases, they came at the request of their relatives already established in those places, forming remarkably successful family businesses. Most were not so fortunate, and found no better fate in America than the poverty from which they were fleeing.