What does the concept of the "Hidden Atlantic" refer to? And what was the role of 18th-19th-century Spanish slave traders in this context?
The "Hidden Atlantic" is a concept developed by historian Michael Zeuske, which refers to the fact that during the illegalisation of the transatlantic slave trade in the early decades of the 19th century, the trade became concealed from public recognition yet remained very much present as a practice between Africa and America, primarily by Brazilian, Portuguese, and Spanish slave traders. Specifically, the Spanish slave trade grew during the 19th century, despite having been illegal since 1820, due to the significant increase in the Cuban sugar economy—Cuba was a Spanish colony until 1898. In the Spanish context, the "Hidden Atlantic" signifies that the Spanish slave trade experienced substantial expansion at the expense of public acknowledgement, facilitated and obscured by the public administration and entangling thousands of individuals who invested in or contributed to the development of this illegal—and also immoral—practice. From 1820 until the last detected slave voyage in 1867, more than 500,000 Africans landed in Cuba alone.
In a recent book chapter, you describe the controversies around slave trade vestiges in a small town in Catalonia, Vilanova i la Geltrú. What was the impact of the slave trade on the communities that were mostly involved in it?
In this book chapter, developed in collaboration with my colleague Gerard Llorens, we discuss the challenges and progress that local memory in Catalonia faces in addressing its colonial and enslaving past. One reason for these challenges is that many localities have direct connections to both colonialism and enslavement, which are evident in the current landscape and heritage of the cities—houses, urban planning, street names, etc. Indeed, numerous men, specifically men who participated in the colonial and enslavement structures of the Spanish Empire in the 19th century, reinvested portions of their accumulated wealth in their hometowns. Consequently, in a context of rapid technological advancement, it is well known that the industrialisation of Catalonia—often referred to as the factory of Spain—received a significant capital boost from the profitability of the sugar industry, which was directly tied to slavery and the slave trade.
Despite the widespread formal abolition of slavery in the mid-19th century, human trafficking remains a tragic global issue, closely linked to modern forms of slave-like exploitation of trafficked individuals (e.g. harsh, unregulated labour, prostitution, etc.). How can your research help us disentangle these modern phenomena?
I believe it is essential to abandon strictly legalist approaches to slavery and human trafficking; the fact that something is illegal does not make it any less systemic or embedded in our realities. Today, more than 70 million people around the world live under forms of modern slavery or forced labour, many of whom are linked to the most difficult, risky, dangerous, and exploitative jobs. Modern slavery is typically defined through the lenses of race, age, and gender, just as it was in the 19th century. And, much like the slave trade of the past, it appears to remain hidden from public discourse, yet it is central to the global economy. Researching illegal slave trade—both past and present—highlights that these practices continue today with the silent complicity and consent of many authorities, companies, and organisations.
Adrià Enríquez Àlvaro is a PhD researcher in the Department of History of the European University Institute (EUI), specialising in the history of the transatlantic slave trade. His PhD thesis, ‘The land of Gallinas. Spanish slave trade in the Hidden Atlantic’, is supervised by professors Regina Grafe and Giorgio Riello. At the EUI, he is also a coordinator of the Public History Working Group.