# Spaniards — To Cuba and Back character guide

> Spaniards in To Cuba and Back by Richard Henry Dana Jr..

**Role:** minor

**Also known as:** Spaniards, The Spaniards, the Spaniards

**First appearance:** 0014-xiii

## Who they are

Spanish colonists or officials in Cuba.

## Relationships

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_social_

Spaniards are colonial authorities or residents the narrator observes, often representing the ruling class in Cuba.

## In the story

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/vi)

Implied through the mention of Carlists from Old Spain possibly working in the chain gang.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/viii)

Spanish sailors are observed ashore for a holiday, and Spanish troops pass by after mass.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xvi)

Govern Cuba through a foreign Captain-General and civil/military officers.

### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xviii)

Young Spanish soldiers, conscripted from rural Spain, lie ill with fevers and smallpox in the Military Hospital.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xix)

Spanish noblemen in Cuba, about fifty or sixty, who have titles from civil or military service or purchased them.

### [XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xx)

Described as 'meagre, hungry, sallow, sweaty mean-looking degenerates' who rake the arena and cover up blood between bullfights.

### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/xxiii)

Peninsulares who constitute the army, navy, government officers, and wealthy merchants; generally oppose independence and annexation.

### [Political Condition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/political-condition)

Spaniards compose the army and navy, and hold the positions of power in Cuba, ruling over the native population.

### [Religion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/religion)

Implied as the dominant nation that formerly wielded ecclesiastical power alongside civil and military authority.

### [Slavery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/slavery)

Described as the ruling class holding civil offices, with laws made in Spain, creating a conflict of interests with Creole slaveholders.

### [Material Resources—Education](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/material-resources-education)

Implied as the colonial power under which Cuba's institutions might improve.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/characters/spaniards
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/characters