El personaje del emigrante gallego en el escenario cubano de los «Bufos habaneros» al Teatro Alhambra

The conflicts unleashed in Cuba in the second half of the nineteenth century and culminating in the Spanish defeat of 1898 were not a serious impediment to discourage emigration. In fact, at the end of the 19th Century, the Galicians represented around 40% of the 130,000 Spanish residents. In spite of their great desire for integration, in the vernacular theater of the «Bufos habaneros», this type of emigrant was represented in the form of a parody, as gross and stingy. In Galicia, on the other hand, a form of theater of social commitment is being born and will reach the other side of the Atlantic. Thus, in 1884, Manuel Lugrís Freire premieres in Havana, A Costureira da Aldea and in the following year, Ramón Armada Teixeiro triumphs in the Gran Teatro Tacón with the piece ¡Non Máis Emigración! In this article, we consider the impact of these works on Cuban society at the time. During the process of forming a postcolonial Cuban identity, overcoming the negative stereotype of Galician is very evident in some pieces of the repertoire of the Alhambra Theater in Havana.