Filipino people of Spanish ancestry are an ethnic group in the Philippines with ancestry from Spain. The majority of Filipinos of unmixed or partially mixed Spanish descent are of Andalusian origin, while a minority are Catalan or Basque descents.

History The Spanish expedition in 1565, prompted the establishment of Spanish rule over the Philippines that lasted for about 333 years. The Spanish set out from Mexico, and the Philippines was ruled from Mexico City, the capital of the former territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, until the grant of independence in 1821 necessitated the direct government from Spain in that year. Early Spanish and Mexican settlers, the latter being mostly of either European or Mestizo heritage known as Américanos (Americans), were mostly explorers, soldiers, government officials, religious missionaries and among others, who were born in Spain and Mexico called Peninsulares (Spanish migrants living in the colony) or Criollo (Spaniards of pure blood), who settled in the islands with their families to govern the colony and the majority of the indigenous population.

Some of these individuals married or inter-bred with the indigenous Filipino (Malay) population while most married only other Hispanics. Their succeeding generation called Insulares (Spaniards or Hispanics born from the islands), became town and village officers and were granted with haciendas (plantation estates) by the Spanish government. In some provinces in the Visayas, Mindanao and Luzon, the Spanish government encouraged foreign merchants to trade with the indigenous population, but they were not given certain privileges such as ownership of land. From this contact, social intercourse between foreign merchants and indigenous people resulted in a new ethnic group. These group were called Filipino mestizos (mixed-race individuals). Some of their descendants, emerged later as an influential part of the Philippine society, such as the Principalía (Nobility).

Between 1565 and 1815, Hispanics from Mexico and Spain sailed to and from the Philippines as government officials, soldiers, priests, settlers, traders, sailors and adventurers in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon, assisting Spain in its trade between Europe and Latin America (Spanish America) and Latin America and the Philippines.

People of other ethnicities, such as Africans, also settled in the Philippines as crews, prisoners and slaves. Some of these individuals married Filipinos of different ethnic groups and classes and have integrated into Philippine society.

The official percentage of Filipinos with Spanish ancestry is unknown. However only those Filipinos who possess a clear mixed-race appearance are considered by most as Spanish-Filipino mestizos. Some offspring of Spanish men and indigenous Filipino women may have adopted the culture of their fathers and grand parents, however only a few mixed race families in the Philippines still speak Spanish among themselves.

The Philippine Statistics Department does not account for the racial background or ancestry of an individual. The official population of all types of mestizos (Asian, American, Hispanic, etc.) that reside inside and outside of the Philippines remains unknown. A Filipina of mixed Spanish and Filipino descent, in the 19th century, in a Philippine national dress. A minority of Filipinos of Spanish descent have migrated to Spain, Latin America, Australia and the United States, after the Spanish American War and World War II. Filipinos of Spanish descent are found in all social classes, especially the upper and middle socio-economic classes, with a smaller percentage found among the lower socio-economic classes. Some are active in politics, commerce, entertainment industry and professional sports.