Inside ‘Little Wales’ some 8,000 MILES from the UK where all the signs are in Welsh & people LOVE Wrexham
NEARLY 8,000 miles away from the UK, you’ll find an enclave known as “Little Wales” – where signs are in Welsh and people love Wrexham.
Some 70,000 people – with an estimated 5,000 of them who speak Welsh – live in the region of Y Wladfa in Argentina, descendants of a group of settlers who moved there 150 years ago from Wales.
For over a century, it has been a little slice of Wales away from Britain found in the province of Chubut, Patagonia.
Signs are in Welsh, people speak Welsh, you can go to Welsh tea shops, and the regional flag is the blue and white of Argentina complete with the Welsh Dragon.
Despite being halfway around the world, you might believe you were in Pembrokeshire.
The descendants of those first settlers told The Sun how they wear their Welsh identity with pride.
While the Welsh language is declining in their homeland, they want to make sure it grows in their corner of Patagonia, they said.
In 1865, a tea clipper ship dubbed the “Mimosa” carried the first 153 Welsh settlers all the way to South America.
Michael D. Jones was apparently concerned that Wales was losing their national identity with the English language on the rise – and he looked to start anew by setting up a Welsh-speaking colony.
He recruited settlers and provided financing for the resettlement.
Now, over 150 years later, Welsh culture lives on halfway across the world.
Along the high street in one of the towns called Gaiman, tourists will see Welsh-named shops, hear residents chatting in Welsh – and could even attend a Welsh Sunday Service.
Nestled in between the hustle and bustle of the Patagonian town sits Ty Gwyn – a Welsh tearoom.
Serving up classic British breakfast tea, Welsh cakes, cawl and bara brith, visitors get the full-Welsh experience in the Argentinian B&B.
The family business has been open for 50 years, with father-and-son duo Felipe, 32, and Ricardo, 62, going above and beyond to keep the Welsh culture alive through the tearoom.
We are very far, different country, but we feel strongly close in the heart
Ricardo Irianni
Discussing its history, Felipe told of how his mum and grandmother founded the tearoom to share Welsh traditions.
But Welsh culture and the spoken language had reportedly taken a hit in Patagonia over the past few decades.
Ricardo told The Sun: “After the settlers came here, the first 10 years was completely Welsh, everything.
“But in 1880, 1885, besides the Welsh people that came here as immigrants, people from Portugal, from Italy, from Spain came, so they mix.
“By the end of the 19th century, there was a very Welsh community here, but perhaps with 50 per cent of people of other countries.
“But in the 20th century, a lot of people came from the north, and the proportion of Welsh people declined.”
While there are reportedly 70,000 Welsh-Patagonians, the father-son duo told how only 4,000 to 5,000 of those speak Welsh.
The drop in numbers previously sparked panic among some Welsh settler descendants – worrying their family’s sacrifice over a century ago was for nothing.
And some Argentinians have decided to let go of their Welsh identity.
Ricardo said: “It’s not heavy for us, but it’s like a responsibility.
“Because life gives you different chances. You can take it or not. And we really take that… because my mother gave it to me, my grandmother.
“Just do it because you like it. Not because it’s an obligation, no.”
But Ricardo believes that, as of recent times, there is a resurgence happening in Patagonia.
He said three Welsh-Spanish schools had opened across Chubut and sees through his grandchildren how Welsh identity is being retained – with kids even having pen-pals in Wales.
Ricardo said: “I am very optimistic now – perhaps now more optimistic myself than 25 years ago,
“It is easy now with the internet. The children have meetings every month with the internet with people from Wales.
“A hundred years ago, it took two months to come by ship here. Now you can fly there.”
The Ty Gwyn family did the day-long journey to Wales a couple of months ago and said they felt a strong connection to the country – despite being born thousands of miles away.
Ricardo said: “I want to say, that when we enter Wales, we feel at home. That’s my feeling.
“I have the opportunity to visit the farm where my great grandfather was born, and that was amazing because it was a feeling of, oh, I’m home.
“Listen to people speak Welsh in the petrol station, it was, for me, so familiar that I felt at home.
“So, that’s a strange feeling because we are a very far, different country, but we feel strongly close in the heart.”
The two are huge Wrexham A.F.C fans and even flew to the UK last month to attend a game – which they called “a dream”.
They got to meet their favourite players and even the chairmen of the popular club.
If you want to experience Wales away from the UK in the Welsh Patagonia, it’s advised to take a flight to Buenos Aires and then a train from there.
The history of Y Wladfa
IN 1865, 153 Welsh people travelled nearly 8,000 miles to start anew in South America - but why?
In the early 19th century Wales, a large number of the country’s population only spoke Welsh.
Many felt as if they were being persecuted for speaking their language and experiencing their culture as the English language began to get used more.
This was not helped by the Industrial Revolution that saw development within Wales – and consequently a reported push-out of rural communities.
Professor Michael D. Jones, a Welsh nationalist preacher, was concerned about the loss of Welsh identity so looked to start anew by setting up a Welsh-speaking colony.
The founder recruited settlers and provided financing for the resettlement.
The first group of settlers sailed from Liverpool in the late May 1865 on the tea-clipper ship, ‘Mimosa’.
The journey took about two months and the ship arrived in Patagonia on the 27th July.
At first, the colony suffered with floods, poor harvests and reported disagreements over land ownership – but the population continued to grow and flourish, History UK reports.
In 1997 the British Council developed a Welsh Language Project to promote and develop the Welsh language in Patagonia, which was a huge step forward.
Now, Welsh-Spanish schools have opened across the Chubut province and descendants of the settlers are working to preserve the language and culture.