The Granadan deportation scheme failed to integrate Moriscos into Castilian society

Evidence

There was a lack of homogeneity about the Moriscos of the Crown of Castile. There were the well-established and integrated ex-Mudejar communities of Old and New Castile and other areas of the meseta, where small urban Moorish quarters housed generally small groups of craftsmen and laborers. In addition, we must not forget the Granadans, who, after the deportations of the early 1570s, had been settled wherever room could be found. The intention had been to place the Granadans in small communities where they would be more rapidly acculturated, but this had rarely happened. These people were often only poorly integrated. Many had subsequently found their way to such urban centers in Andalusia as Seville, where work was to be had. A few had even illegally slipped back into their old Granadan homeland, where their local knowledge helped them to remain inconspicuous. Granada itself once more had a Morisco population, albeit a small one. — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 1486

Categorization

• XREF: The failed ‘dispersion for acculturation’ policy connects to the theme of expulsion/deportation schemes that undermine their stated goals — parallels the earlier Granadan deportation chapters in this volume and modern schemes of minority resettlement.