Ignorant of history, I suppose-Columbus may have paved the way for mass exodus from Spain, but Cortez really started it when he brought all those Spanish soldiers here-more of them than not saw a fine deal in staying in New Spain, setting themselves up on some land with a Native American woman, making a living and having a bunch of kids-better than going back to old Spain-where maybe they were a 3d son in a poor family, or-like many of my ancestors-a Basque rebel from the Pyrenees ripe for hanging if caught who joined the army, got on a Mexico bound ship and decamped with haste...
I can imagine how they felt. My grandfather was the 13th child on a farm in Northern Ireland not much bigger than my suburban house lot. Only the oldest son stayed: the other 12 children moved all over the English-speaking world.