The mestizo population which is the bulk of Chilean society came about as the Andalusian settlers did not bring women, so they intermarried with the local Amerindian women. Thousands of Andalusian refugees fleeing Spanish Civil War on 1939 also settled and have many descendants in the country and have even intermarried with mestizo population and other Spanish and other European ethnic groups. In lingustics, Chilean Spanish shows great affinity with Andalusian Spanish due to Andalusian words and lexicons are a major influence of the Chilean Spanish dialect than Castillian Spanish and Asturian Spanish. The Chilean huaso shows the big Andalusian influence in Chilean folk culture in his dress, and that of his female companion, the china, also the music is believed by many scholars to have roots in Arabo-Andalusi music and the dance has Moorish influences.
Chilean folk costumes that resemble the dress of Andalusian horsemen
The huaso costume is a local adaptation of the Andalusian horseman's outfit, with the local adaptation of the Cordobes hat, the chupalla. The base of Chilean folk music is the Spanish guitar, brought by the Spaniards. Castanets are absent as the rythm is produced by a tambourine. The Chilean national dance, the cueca, even though its predessecor, the zamacueca, came form Peru, its ancestor is the Andalusian fandango as played and danced in the 17th and 18th centuries. However, even though the music might have Andalusian roots it is completely unrelated to flamenco, which is the music of the Roma in Andalusia. The Roma (aka Gypsies) of Spanish origin are highly numerous in Chile. The Andalusians, as well as the vast majority of Spaniards arrived in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
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