It may have been nearly six decades ago, but Josefina Uribarri remembers 14 July 1960 like it was yesterday.
The then 27-year-old arrived at Essendon Airport in Melbourne, touching down on a flight nicknamed 'El Avion De Las Novias', or, 'The Fiancées Flight'.
“[They] were looking for single girls to come to Australia,” she told SBS News ahead of a reunion for some of those on the flight earlier this month.
Josefina was single, but she also had a four-year-old daughter, Maria.
She was told she’d earn a higher wage if she made the move to Australia.
Josefina Uribarri moved to Australia on her own when she was 27. Source: Supplied
“It was a hard decision,” the 87-year-old said.
“As I wasn’t earning a lot of money, it was 300 pesetas a month [$2.95 today], I put my name to come.”
Her daughter stayed in Spain with Josefina's father.
'Plan Marta'
Between 1960 and 1963 around 700 Spanish women like Josefina came to Australia under what was called 'Plan Marta'.
The 'Martas' were travelling under a migration agreement between the governments of Australia and Spain, supported by the Catholic Church.
Dr Natalia Ortiz Ceberio from the University of New South Wales has been documenting the stories of the women.
“The first agreement between the two countries brought labour, male labour, to work on the sugar cane in Queensland, and they realised very quickly that those men needed something else, so then they came up with a second agreement,” she said.
The idea was for the Spanish women to mingle with the Spanish and Italian male communities.
Hundreds of Spanish and Greek women arrived in Australia as part of 'Plan Marta'. Source: Supplied
“Really, apart from the company, it was just to make the migrants stay because a lot of them came for a couple of years and their intention was to return [home],” Dr Ortiz said.
“And Australia wanted the migrants to stay, so the best thing was to have some families here.”
Josefina says there were about 60 young women on her flight.
They thought they were being sent to Australia to become domestic workers.
“We didn’t know [about Australia], only we knew there were kangaroos,” she said.
“But when I come here I look for the kangaroos [in the city] ... no, not here.”
Life in Australia
Josephina worked as a cleaner at a home in St Kilda.
She said she was happy because the work was easier and paid slightly better than back home.
But as well as having to leave her daughter behind, another aspect of Australian life also proved challenging: the food.
“I was not happy because I was hungry,” she says.
Upon arrival, the girls were divided between the families and the Catholic missions to which they had been assigned. Source: Supplied
“I was hungry because they give me big breakfast, and I don’t feel like eating because in Spain we weren’t used to having breakfast!”
“One day they get me this sweetcorn, In my village they give sweetcorn to the chooks!”
“When I saw the sweetcorn I rang my friend and I say ‘oh, they think I’m a chook!” she said laughing.
Josefina eventually moved out of domestic work and found a job at St Vincent’s Hospital. She said she was the first Spanish person to work there.
Just as Plan Marta had intended, she also found a Spanish husband.
She married Enrique Uribarri in July 1961 at St Patrick’s Cathedral, only a year after arriving in Melbourne. He died in 1998.
Josefina and Enrique married on in July 1961. Source: Supplied
After settling in Australia, she would also go on to reunite with her daughter.
Maria emigrated to Australia when she was 10 years old, along with Josefina's father.
Through the highs and lows, Josefina said she is glad she got on that flight 60 years ago.
Josefina and her daughter Maria in 2017. Source: Supplied
“I’m never sorry to be in Australia, I’m so happy.”
“At the very beginning there was this nostalgia and sadness, but I was happy.”
