Eva Longoria Visits the Spanish Village Her Ancestors Came From: 'Got to Finally Discover My Roots!'
Eva Longoria is getting in touch with her roots.
The Desperate Housewives alum shared on Instagram Friday that she visited the Spanish town her ancestors hailed from, posing in front of a sign marking the town of Longoria in Asturias.
“Yep. This happened today! Got to finally discover my roots!” the 42-year-old actress captioned the shot. “I have been wanting to visit the small village where my ancestors came from and where my last name was born for years !! And today I got to meet all the amazing people in this small town who were beaming with pride!”
She continued, “Thank you to everyone who helped welcome me today, I felt the love and energy of each of you! Gracias por recibirme! #Asturias #Llongoria #Longoria #Orgullosa.”
A post shared by Eva Longoria Baston (@evalongoria) on Apr 7, 2017 at 4:38pm PDT
A post shared by LA NUEVA ESPAÑA | Fotografía (@lnefotografia) on Apr 7, 2017 at 11:12pm PDT
The actress has been meticulously documenting her trip on Snapchat, including her time spent in Asturias’ capital city Oviedo. In her videos, she shares glimpses at some of the city’s most beautiful landmarks, including the Oviedo Cathedral, parks with “beautiful lights” and “plaza after plaza after plaza.”
Longoria also visited Covadonga, another city in Asturias, taking followers along with her on her adventures Saturday morning as she explored the Santa Cueva de Covadonga cathedral.
“King Pelayo, who was one of the kings of Asturias,” she says, panning to a statue of the king outside the cathedral.
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Longoria appeared on the PBS series Finding Your Roots in 2010, speaking to Henry Louis Gates, Jr. about her closeness to both her Mexican and Spanish heritage.
Her first ancestor to depart Spain, Lorenzo Longoria, did so in 1603, eventually settling in what is now north to Texas. Her 7th great-grandfather Pedro Longoria was given almost 4,000 acres of Rio Grande-bordering land in a grant from the King of Spain in 1767.
“When I go to Spain, I feel a connection, but I feel more at home in Mexico - maybe just because it’s closer and it’s what I know,” said the actress, who was born in Corpus Christi to Mexican-American parents, in an interview excerpted from Gates’ Faces of America book in The Huffington Post.
“It’s just so funny, the evolution of a family, but we’re trying to protect our land from the Anglos, and once my grandparents were on the ranch, we were protecting it from Mexicans illegally immigrating north,” said Longoria of the property, which stayed in the family for almost 100 years. “And so you had to be careful with dangerous people coming up north. And so [it was] constant.”
Longoria added, from the book excerpt, “In my family, I am the one who claims Mexico ancestry the strongest. Every time they ask, Where are you from?’ my dad says, Spain’ ... He would always talk about our ancestors, and I never really understood that when I was younger.”
Along with the rich history of her heritage, Longoria couldn’t help but admit on Snapchat that she has been indulging a little in the amazing food as well.
“It’s so beautiful in the north of Spain, and I’m getting fatter by the minute,” she joked, “wearing” the bee filter on her face in the accompanying video. “Cookies and wine!”
