A Theme Park in Early 20th Century Galicia: A Case Study on the Globalized Visions of “Indianos”

Abstract

[Abstract]: Memories of migration to America used to highlight the image of “Indianos”, those who returned wealthy. They were bearers of a deficit in cultural and symbolic capital, but also carried out a globalized vision; some promoted philanthropic enterprises in their birth place, particularly hundreds of schools. Our study focuses on two of them, the brothers Juan and Jesús García Naveira, who returned to Galicia in 1893. In the small town of Betanzos they financed the construction of schools, trade union centres, and hospices. Moreover, they built a theme park, the “Pasatiempo” (“Leisure Gardens”): on 90,000 m2 of land they built and laid out gardens, a zoo…… and dozens of sculptural scenes that constituted a compendium of the knowledge and Western architectural and artistic heritage. The Park was an act of self-affirmation of those self-made men, a compilation of their self-taught education and their travels through America, Europe and North Africa. However, it documented also their faith in the capacity of technology and education to support human progress: its conceptual design was carried out under the advice of a follower of Pestalozzi and of the Spanish “Institución Libre de Enseñanza” (“Free Educational Institution”); and it was conceived not only as a recreational space, but also as a place where students from schools could learn.