The Spanish government is hesitant to give financial aid to Latin American countries because of their constant begging for Spanish funds. Per se Mexico, Peru, Columbia, Argentina. Spain retains a rather deaf ear to these countries.
However, when it comes to the Philippines she is far more lenient. It is faster for a Filipino citizen to become a Spanish citizen; and Spain has minority rights that specifically includes the Filipino. The same does not apply to foreign nationals that are living in Spain.
Out of the continuum of Spanish-speaking countries, no other nation has the apple of Spain's eyes as that of the Philippines.
Many historians and apologetics like to argue that Spain has a philic interest on the Philippine. And when we look to history, we realize that the basis of colonizing the new world was the fact that Columbus thought that the new world (caribbean, central, south america) was the Spice Islands, India. Hence the term "Indio" was referred to the Meso-American natives. As the Spaniards thought, for a while, that the new world was actually India and the caribbean islands were the famed spice islands (Indonesia-Philippines-Malaysia).
They found the new world by accident, but their original target was the riches of Asia-the-Oriental East.
For half a millenia, Spain referred to the Philippines as her Bastion in the Orient. For a while, even before the erruption of the Spanish-Philippine War, there were proponents in the Royal Cortes (Spanish Parliament) that were in favor of officially making the Philippine Islands into a Royal Province of Spain. With all Filipinos having the same rights as citizens of Spain. And officially removing the Friar-based control of the Islands.
The erruption of the war and the eventual American intervention displaced such notions. There are military historians, politicians in Spain to this day who have a nostalgia for the Philippines.
His Majesty King Juan Carlos I, is one of them. Hence, there is such a warm reception of Filipinos in Spain. Out of all Latin Countries, Spain favors the Philippines the most.
I say we take advantage of this. Spain is rich. Let her invest in the Philippine.
The mother longs for her separated child. One cannot deny that our culture is Spanish. We are a product of complete Hispanization. European Culture transfused into an Asian people. And we cannot deny our Hispanic roots. Our churches, language, religion, and psyche is a testament to that. To deny our Hispanic roots is to deny our own history, our own character.
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