October 12th is a holiday in Spain, commemerating Chris Colon's discover of the New World.

Does anyone know why (or how it started) the celebration includes a parade of members of the armed forces from different countries from the Americas?

Just seemed kind of odd...not exactly a militaristic type of holiday.....

Actually, if you ask most Spaniards why October 12th is a holiday, they'll say it's the feast of the Virgin Mary of the Pillar, or "La Virgen del Pilar", not Columbus Day.

Spain traditionally has two national Saint's Days, though they are not as widely observed as they used to be. One is Santiago (Saint James) which falls on July 25th. The other, El Pilar, is on Oct. 12. The Virgen del Pilar is also the patron of Zaragoza.

The reason for the military parades I believe is a throwback to Franco times, but I'm not entirely sure about that. It may even be older.

Still, as one of Spain's national holidays, it was a day to celebrate Spanish tradition and that included military might...kind of like the way the Soviet Union used to have its big military parade on May Day.

It was also held in Barcelona, but in the last few years, many Catalans viewed it as a show of Spanish dominance over their "nation" and asked to have it removed. I think they no longer have the parade there.

Other countries are invited to the parade. Two years ago, it was the source of controversy because the then leader of the oppositon Party Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero refused to rise when the American flag and troops marched by because he opposed to Spain's involvement in the Iraqi War. And if you want to insult the American military, that's probably the quickest way.

Much was said about it, but the true consequences were felt when Zapatero won the elections the following Spring. In additon to Spain's early pullout of Iraq, this offensive act (you can be sure Bush was informed of it) probably contributed to a breach in the warm relationship Aznar had developed with the US.

The military parade has declined in popularity over the years basically because it seems so anachronistic and some do associate it with Franco times.

As for Columbus, well people are aware of it, but no one calls it Columbus Day. They sometimes call it the Día de Hispanidad, in which they celebrate the ties that exist between Spain (the Motherland) and Latin America.

October 12th is our National Day (like July 4th is to USA), and also the Hispanity Day (a day celebrated in all lathynamerican countries).

Thus, a parade is celebrated. It has nothing to do with Franco's Dictatorship, but that at those times the national day was celebrated on October 12th as well. Also, it has nothing to do with catalonian nationalistic deliria of any spanish dominance. It has been a festivity in Catalonia since centuries ago (no matter their politicians have recently decided to ignore it and celebrate their own "national" day).

Two years ago, our "mighty" and smart president (then the opposition leader), decided that a good way of showing his party's opposition to Iraq's War was to remain seated while four US Marines (invited by president Aznar) paraded through Madrid's Paseo de la Castellana (how wise he was showing disrespect for the entire nation, don't you think?). He was widely critized.



In this year parade he has decided to make the festivity much more "democratic". How, our wise reader may ask... by inviting all lathyn-american countries to the parade including Cuba and Venezuela.

Hey, now we are a "true" democracy! We have changed US Marines (soldiers of the oldest democracy in the World) for cuban soldiers (the oldest dictatorship in the World).

I've never gone to the parade, but I'm thinking to attend to see if I can throw something to the cuban soldiers. I guess they will fire on me. It's what they are used to.

Fernando

Oh, come on Fernando, you sort of misconstrued my thoughts there. I often share many of the views you have written in other posts and I didn't want to turn this into a political debate, but I guess that was my fault for putting what I put.

However, I don't completely agree with you here.

I said I wasn't sure when the parade tradition began but there is no doubt that it enjoyed particular popularity during those years of the dictatorship.

You're right, in a sense it is Spain's national holiday, and like the 4th of July. As I said, it's almost like Spanish Pride Day. Franco's dictatorship drew heavily on patriotic themes (just the way Bush does today) to bring together unity, so it's only natural that the day (and the parade) took on greater importance during those years. Just as it would be natural for people who are less inclined to share those views to nowadays look at it with greater scepticism.

Plus nowadays, unfortunately, Spanish pride is almost an embarrassment to some. You can't wave your flag without being considered right-winged. It's utterly ridiculously but sadly true, but in part a backlash from the excessive patriotism of the past.

Then there are the nationalists, a large number of whom don't even consider themselves Spanish. Why have a national holiday?

To say the debate in Barcelona has nothing to do with Spanish dominance isn't quite right. I see what you're saying, but I think it is more complicated. Just last year Maragall suggesting celebrating the parade again because it no longer symbolized "Imperialist Spain". Boy, if that doesn't suggest disdain for Spanish dominance in Catalonia, I don't know what does. Imagine you're a Catalan nationalist and you don't like Spain: How would view the Spanish army rolling armored cars down the streets of your city in a display of military pride?

Is their reasoning correct? Not really. But is that how some view it...definitely.

Plus, there are other factors. It's a religious holiday (the patron saint of the school I work at so I am especially proud of it), and religious unity is no longer what it was. You're right, it is a very old and revered feast, but its image has been marred by politics over the years.

So, if anyone can find out more about the origins of the parade, I'd be glad to hear it. I for one will enjoy the day off, the way I do every year. Unfortunately it falls on a Wednesday this year, so there'll be no puente, but it should be a nice break in the week.

I'm not a big fan of military parades no matter where I am...but maybe I'll stop by out of curiosity.

By the way, the concept of the Día de Hispanidad started in the 1950s, which I just learned. I thought it was a lot more recent.

That's enough politics for me!

Who told you I didn't agree with you?

I was just pointing out some issues as well as my opinions, but I basicly agree with your reasoning.

Maragall is a fool, Zapatero is a man who is in love with his own reflection in a mirror, and the whole PSOE is a shame as a party, only hold together by the power they have achieved.

Catalonians have a real problem with their politicians. I respect that some of them don't consider themselves spanish, but their arguments really sick me.

My grandfather almost died in a Franco's prisoner camp, but I can't stand the use socialists do of the past, removing statues, making homages to criminals like Carrillo (a communist responsible for thousands of killings), Companys (a rebel ultra-nationalist who armed militias to try to put down the Republic and was responsible for hundreds of deaths) and so on.

This country sickens me to my soul. Zapatero is throwing it to the mud. I won't have any problem to move to another country. Let's see what could do those who voted him.

Fernando

So, where would you go?

A lathynamerican country?

I agree. The way history has been distorted to satisfy nationalist wishes is in many cases, as you say, sickening and very frustrating. It's a shame. Maybe time will make things better.

Well, as usual, I start mulling these things over and decide to get my facts straight about these things before I continue to blab on.

I now realize the whole picture was a little more confusing than I thought, and my comments not entirely that accurate.

October 12th has been celebrated as the Feast of the Virgin of the Pillar since the beginning of the 19th Century...if not much earlier. Our Lady of the Pillar is one of Spain's patron saints, as we mentioned before. The reason for the date is that on that day in the year 1118, Alfonso I took back Zaragoza from the Moors.

Having said that, let's move on to the modern period. In 1918, October 12 was declared Fiesta Nacional en España under the unofficial name of "Día de la Raza" (Day of the Race), to commemorate cultural and linguistic ties between Spain and Latin America. You have to admit it has a kind of Aryan ring to it, but that doesn't appear to be the intention. The date of Columbus' arrival was a logical choice.

That is how it stood for several years until some intellectuals like Ramiro Maetzu, Unamuno and Machado, suggested the name should be changed to "Día de la Hispanidad" saying it sounded more accurate.

The idea caught on and was accepted by the Franco regime in 1958, when Oct. 12 officially became the "Día de la Hispanidad".

After his death, it seemed that anything remotely related to Franco was no longer acceptable, so in 1987 the day was once again renamed, this time to "Día de la Fiesta Nacional de España". It sort of sounds like a celebration of bullfighting, but it seems to be an honest effort to honor Spain in ALL its aspects and diversity, which is why Spaniards from all over the country should be proud of it.

And that's what it's officially called even today. But only officially. Try saying to a Spaniard "What are you going to do for the Día de la Fiesta Nacional de España?" and they may not know what you're talking about. Ask what their plans are for El Pilar, and they'll start telling them. So in the end, maybe all that name-switching has left Spaniards no other choice than to use the day's original name.

Yes, Fernando, I stand corrected. It would seem that it all has very little to do with Franco...though we know he probably made the most of the day to instil traditional Spanish icons.

What I couldn't find was anything about when the first military parade was held, which is what I was looking for in the first place!

For some more, in spanish, about the history of holiday see:
http://www.sgci.mec.es/ie/Pub/Tecla/2004/oct01a.html

And that's about it for now.

I was once in Seville for October 12th. Took the wrong turn down a side street, and wound up in the middle of the parade. I continued right on - we marched to the Cathedral, (Christopher Columbus' bones are supposedly there) stayed for the ceremony, and had unknowingly positioned myself so that I was on the front page of the newspaper the next day!

Hey, I was on VACATION. I did not even know what day it was, much less what the date was when I woke up that morning!

If I had to abandon my country I would prefer to live in the US, in Britain, France or Italy.

Murdy, I didn't know it in such detail! Thanks for the research

Fernando