A person of full Spanish or Portuguese ancestry born and living on the continent of
America. That during the colonial
period, these so called "Criollos" were rank in the highest social caste, implemented by the Spanish Monarchy to give a individual their status on political rights. These meaning, that the more Spanish ancestry a person had, the more freedom and privileged rights was granted. At one
time, in the New Spain ( Colony of Spain, that was located in the today present lands of Central
America and Mexico ) the Criollos ( Combined with the so called "Peninsulares", that were Spaniards born in the Iberian Peninsula ) were more than the group of Mestizos and Native Indigenous that were oppressed by having lesser political rights. Even though, that the Criollos were more during the colonial
period, after it and during the Mexican revolution, in hopes of bringing equality to the
Mexican population, a new form of "Mestizaje" was grave to created a homogeneous nation and rapidly the elite social class of Criollos became a minority ( Still existed, but with fewer presence in Mexico ).
In present times, the "Criollos" are estimated to be around 15-
30% ( Percentage varies from different sources ) of the
Mexican population.
