Some advanced information for anybody that finds themselves in Madrid on October 12th that Spain celebrates a national day ( commemorating the discovery of America in 1492 ) . There will be a huge military parade throught the Plaza de Colon in the presence of the King and other members of the Royal Family , as well as all chiefs of the regional governments of Spain . They'll also be impressive military air displays .
Infact today they started practicing the air display and from now until the 12th my apartment will be constantly buzzed by all kinds of warplanes and transporters etcc ... I love it !!
The military display is always transmitted live on Spanish TV .

A wikipedia link is :

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiesta_Nacional_de_Espa%C3%B1a

Steve .

Oooh will i get the day off work? Ill have to check!! i sincerely hope so.

Oh how disappointing, its a sunday!

WOW, I'd love to be there for that....I'll have to find it on line some where....

Kipper , I wish I could promise some photos , but we're having a party here at my apartment to honour the National Day ... Actually i've never been to the parade , only watched it on TV . A few years ago I was staying at an Hostal in Puerta del Sol with a Spanish friend ..We turned on the Tv and saw all these soldiers etc... And suddenly they showed the Royal cars ( Rolls Royces ) driving towards Plaza de Colon . My friend said , wow - they're gonna pass right infront of the hostal so we got dressed quickly and rushed downstairs ... The whole of Sol was eerily quiet and my friend asked a policeman - " Is the King going to be passing by ?" - The policeman said he couldn't answer the question so we took that as a "yes" . 10 minutes later they arrived .. The King and Queen with loads of police outriders and security cars etc ... I got a video of it ... Pretty exciting , AND the only time i've seen the Spanish Royal family in person .. !! ( I've seen my own royal family often ) .
Anyway our party will be full of Spanish flags and patriotism .. jejeje .. Our guests will be from UK , Spain , USA , Argentina , France , Austria etc.. United Nations hahaha

How fun this sounds, take pictures at your party....hehehehe....I would love to be there for this special day! I guess I'll be there soon enugh though, I can't wait for my trip again this year.

SURELY TVE1 or maybe even TeleMadrid will be showing part of the parade. You can watch Telemadrid SAT online/live.

Saludos, MadridMan

One amazing display that I know of happens in Sevilla, in the Cathedral, when the mumified body of king Ferdinand (Fernando) is displayed,,, um, ...cant remember the number,,, but I do recall that he wasnt the first (I),,, I last saw him displayed some 25 years ago, so pardon my memory lapses and lack of historical details,,,anyway, King Fernando is buried in the Cathedral of Sevilla, close to the entrance by the Giralda and the plaza with the fountain. (If you were to use this entrance his capilla is immediately off to the left)

On this day, the panels on the king's "coffin" are removed, leaving only a clear glass enclosure where visitors are allowed to approach the display in a single line fashion and walk around up close at a slow pace where you have plenty of time for close viewing.

To me its amazing for several reasons; the mumified remains are very well preserved, you're looking face to face at a deceased king from a medieval era, someone who is in history books and played an active dominant role during our past history, you see his burial clothing, crown?hat?, sword, rings and jewelry from when he was buried centuries ago,,, it's the closest thing to time travel and for a few seconds and with some help from my own imagination I'm taken back to many centuries ago,,, I can see him raise his sword and order about, most powerful man in the world,,, during that period,,, and then he lays there, ever so still, as he has been for many centuries past, next to a wide eyed peasant staring in, just a common man and his vivid imagination,,, to Your service, Your Majesty.

If you happen to be there during that time, it's well worth the visit.

We have been lucky to have seen the parade three times. It was very exciting and worth while. Twice we have been near enough to Colon to see the entire Royal Family. They are all very tall people and quite elegant. They do indeed arrive in a Rolls Royce. First, they greet all the dignataries in the stand. After the Royal March is played, the King leaves the stand alone and crosses the Colon Plaza to pay homage to the Spanish flag which is near the Colon statue. (I think that is what he is doing.) Then there is a fly-over by military planes with red and yellow trails. Then the parade which was led by a unit of about 50 Harley-Davidsons. The King and the Prince review the entire parade and salute each unit flag. The crowd was enthusiastic and there were shouts of "Elena! Elena!" I don't know why she was singled out, but she was. One year the Queen kept fanning herself furiously--what wrist action! She was either overly warm or agitated. The next year whe was cool and collected. A group of classy young ladies distribute program booklets and small Spanish flags to the crowd. I don't know who they are, but they are all dressed alike in jackets and skirts. Wonderful memories, I just had to share.

So how was the Holiday, reports please....teehee

Good question!

On TV, I was only able to see the raising-of-the-HUGE-Spanish-flag ceremony with the King of Spain on the Plaza de Colón. While the flag was raising and the National Hymm was being played, the 6 fighter jets flew down the Castellana and released their Red, Yellow, and Red powder, creating the stripes of the flag of Spain in the sky.

That's all I saw but was glad to see that much at least.

Saludos, MadridMan

I watched a lot of the ceremony on TVE1 whilst preparing for our house party . Very very impressive military display . I think a lot of the air display was cancelled due to the weather ( low clouds ) . Lots of cheers and patriotic chanting from the crowds as the king and queen emerged .
The organisers had security on high alert as there had been rumours that ETA would strike ... Thankfully that didn't happen .
My flatmate was keen to point out the Special Force when they marched past the Royal family . I have huge respect for the military and huge admiration for the soldiers BUT the uniforms that the special forces were wearing would have been very welcome in any of the Gay clubs here . Tight baseball style pants and shirts that were open practically to the waist ! And , unusually for the military , some guys wearing gold chains ( with a cross ) ...
Anyway it was just an observation , but I have to restate that I have enormous respect for these men and what they have to endure .
The whole parade was precision perfect , and I heard a lot of cheers for th Guardia Civil who have had deaths , recently , amongst their ranks at the hands of terrorist here in Spain and in France .
A footnote - My party for the Fiesta Nacional was a huge success !! Wow ... we had a blast and the appartment was decked out with plenty of big Spanish flags . A huge empanada de bonito , 2 legs of lamb ( cordero ) , 2 roast chickens , Jamon , Chorizo , lacon , croquetas ( made by my flatmate's cousin ) , different cheeses etc..... And for dessert my Spanish friend , Eva , made a tarta de queso ( cheese cake ) and a very big tiramisu ... Other guests brought desserts too .The food was all eaten ! Our first guest arrived at 2:15 and our last 3 guests left about 11:30 pm . It was a great mix of people , nationalities , languages and great fun ... And LOTS of photos !! I want to do it all again ! Steve

This year I decided to stay home. I was afraid of the weather although at the end there was no rain!

I also read many of MadridMan\'s entries on his blog , and although I appreciate your efforts to always give an objetive and neutral view of things (not everybody does that), it seems to me that you are a bit overinfluenced, perhaps by your left-wing Spanish friends?

This of course if not critizism to you or your great website which is great!!

Hi Estopa1!

Influences swirl around all of us and I do try to be objective and even critical of both sides, human and otherwise. This tends to cause people more introspection than they might have otherwise. My friends are from both sides of the party spectrum but I make my own decisions - as do we all. Sorry, but since we have a "No Politics" policy on our message board we cannot discuss this further publicly. Feel free to email/PM me though.

Saludos, MadridMan

Mmmmm...croquetas, my favorite, I can't wait to get back and have some.....