Written by Isabelle Shaw
The gulf of Equatorial Guinea, situated in East Africa and including the islands of Bioko, Annobón and continental Rio Muni, is the only country in Africa with Spanish as a co-official language. In 1778 Spain invaded Equatorial Guinea, and later the islands of Bioko and Annobón. While the Spaniards benefited from the sale of food products created by the colonisation of Equatorial Guinea, the illegal trafficking of slaves and their inhumane treatment underlines how the Spanish monarchs intentionally exploited the indigenous population. The colonial control of Equatorial Guinea began under the rule of the Spanish elite and the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata – a viceroyalty created during Spain’s colonisation of Central and South America. There was, however, a shift in power when Franco won the Civil War and became dictator in 1929, electing to establish a government in Equatorial Guinea. However, there was a lack of legal protection for natives. This becomes especially significant when considering the paucity of laws which caused abuse and violence toward natives to become widespread. After a long history of colonisation Equatorial Guineans fought for and won their independence in 1968.
The Spanish Invasion
In 1777, after signing the treaty of San Ildefonso, Portugal ceded to Spain the two islands of Annobón and Fernando Po in the Gulf of Guinea. The invasion began on 17 April 1778 when Philip VII, the Spanish king, spearheaded an expedition of war boats. However, Spaniards began to doubt the utility of these islands and decided not to colonise them completely – using them alternatively as an operational centre for the slave trade. Spain then fully established its control years later after the United Kingdom expressed interest in colonising the islands of Fernando Po and Annobón. Consequently, Juan José Lerena and Barry were sent on an expedition to defend the land in March of 1843 which engendered the ‘Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea’, Spanish territories of the Gulf of Guinea. Their presence resulted in the United Kingdom retracting their claims over the island of Fernando Po and gave Spain complete rule. By 1900 after the Treaty of Paris, France confirmed its borders between Spanish colonies allowing Spain to have control over the Gulf of Guinea.
Slavery
The islands of the gulf of Equatorial Guinea became both a port for the slave trade and a place for merchants travelling to the Philippines to rest. The largest indigenous tribe, la Fang (the Fang tribe) were frequently sent illegally to Cuba as slaves. The smaller tribe, los Bubi (the Bubi tribe) were enslaved to work on the coffee and cocoa plantations in Equatorial Guinea. However, the great majority of slaves working on cocoa plantations were slaves from Nigeria, Cameroon, or Cuba. In fact, in 1965 only 16% of native Bubi people produced cocoa. Slaves were treated brutally and unfairly, many perished from diseases such as yellow fever and negligence by the plantation owners. Modern day understanding of the maltreatment of slaves in Equatorial Guinea is best represented by a scene of an enslaved man being whipped in the film Las Palmas en la Nieve, which highlights recent historian’s discoveries of evidence that enslaved people were treated violently by Spanish colonists. Moreover, it is often overlooked that there were female slaves on the plantations in Bioko, which was a huge shift from the previous social structure of the island.
Cocoa plantations
Cacoa was an integral part of the economy of Equatorial Guinea, especially in the island of Bioko, which hugely increased production of Cocoa during Spanish colonial rule from 10,0000 tonnes to 2,850,000 tonnes. As the world began to consume cacao more rapidly, it caused Equatorial Guinea to become more reliant on its cocoa industry to maintain the stability of its economy. The rise in the consumption of chocolate meant that Guinea Equatorial became one of the largest exporters in the 20th century. Spaniards cared little for the realities of the brutality of slavery and cruelty that occurred in Equatorial Guinea, especially since public opinion was diverted to focus on the economic benefits created by the colonisation of the Gulf – the plantations created more than 36 million pesetas for Spain. Spaniards focused on the economic benefits of the port of Santa Isabel becoming one of the most popular for colonial traders and food products in the 1920s provided by the island of Fernando Po.
Native culture
Despite colonial aims to superimpose the influence of catholic missionaries and customs over the existing indigenous cultures, natives still maintained their own cultural and religious customs throughout the colonial period. The genre of music varied amongst tribes in Equatorial Guinea as the folklore music of mvet, composed using a bamboo guitar and harp, was popular in the Fang tribe. Similarly to flamenco music, it was accompanied by the dance Balélé and el ibanga risque. Also, the gastronomy varied between tribes: typical popular dishes in the Fang tribe were la bambucha, an almond and date broth, and los envueltos, meat or fish with vegetables that were wrapped in banana skin. When Spanish immigrants settled in Equatorial Guinea, they introduced buñuelos as a typical food. Native languages spoken were el fang, el bubi, and bissio, a language spoken by almost 8,500 people in Rio Muni. El fang was the most popular native language as el bubi was spoken mostly in the island of Bioko. Other native traditions such as the festival of Abira were maintained throughout the colonial era, it was a festival that cleansed the community of sin and in Bioko was celebrated around Christmas Time. That being said, Spanish colonial influence did overpower some aspects of native culture as Spanish did become la lengua franca, the shared language. As well, before the Spanish invasion Islam and animismo were the most frequently practised religions in Equatorial Guinea. However, after the Spanish colonisation, by 1969 only 1% of the population practised Islam and only 7% were animismo. In their place Catholicism had become the principal religion, as 88% of the population were now Catholics.
Independence
By 1968 there was a powerful growing resistance by native tribes, eventually leading to an evacuation of Spaniards who lived in the colony as ordered by the military. On 13 October 1968 Equatorial Guinean natives’ fight for independence ceased with the signing of the treaty of independence that created a republic under the president Macías Nguema. While Spain no longer held rule in Equatorial Guinea under the treaty of independence, they earned money for the material reserves in the plantations of Equatorial Guinea. Spanish immigrants were forced to leave Equatorial Guinea and return to Spain. After the end of Spanish colonial rule, Macías assumed complete power over Equatorial Guinea.
Bibliography
Brule, Álvaro Van den. “Lo Que Pasó Con Los Españoles En Guinea: Otra Visión de La Historia.” elconfidencial.com, July 6, 2019. https://www.elconfidencial.com/alma-corazon-vida/2019-07-06/historia-guinea-africa-guerra-cristianismo-colonia_2101846.
Diaz de Quijano, Fernando. “España En Guinea Ecuatorial: Del Expolio al Olvido.” El Español, February 17, 2021. https://www.elespanol.com/el-cultural/letras/20210217/espana-guinea-ecuatorial-expolio-olvido/559695958_0.html.
Gerehou, Moha. “Cinco Episodios de La Historia de España de Los Que Apenas Nos Dijeron En El Colegio Que Fueron Racistas Y Coloniales.” elDiario.es, January 6, 2019. https://www.eldiario.es/desalambre/episodios-historicos-espana-racistas-coloniales_1_1790404.html.
Lipski, John. “The Spanish Language of Equatorial Guinea.” Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies 8, no. 1 (2004): 115–30.
Lipski, John Μ. “The Spanish of Equatorial Guinea(1): Research on La Hispanidad’s Best-Kept Secret.” Afro-Hispanic Review 19, no. 1 (April 1, 2000): 70–97.
PAÍS, Ediciones EL. “África No Es Un País | Planeta Futuro En EL PAÍS.” El País. Accessed February 9, 2024. https://elpais.com/planeta-futuro/africa-no-es-un-pais/.
Tapia, Álvaro Coca. “La Guinea Española (1777-1900) – Archivos de La Historia.” Archivos de la Historia | Tu página de divulgación, December 10, 2020. https://archivoshistoria.com/la-guinea-espanola/.
Retrospect Journal 