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Event Information:
Spain's National Day (Día de la
Hispanidad) is celebrated on 12
October. With the advent of
democracy in Spain, 12 October, a
date that commemorates the discovery
of America by Cristobal Colon in
1492, became the National Day of
Spain.
12 October 1492 marks the emergence
of a large Spanish speaking
community of more than 350 million
people who share language, values,
and traditions. Since 1987, Spain
has celebrated the anniversary of
Columbus' arrival in the Americas as
its Fiesta Nacional or "National
Day". Previously Spain had
celebrated the day as Día de la
Hispanidad, emphasizing Spain's ties
with the Hispanidad or international
Hispanic community. In 1981 a royal
decree established the Día de la
Hispanidad as a national holiday. However, in 1987 the
name was changed to Fiesta Nacional,
and October 12 became one of two
national celebrations, along with
Constitution Day on December 6.
Spain's "national day" had moved
around several times during the
various regime changes of the 20th
century; establishing it on the day
of the international Columbus
celebration was part of a compromise
between conservatives, who wanted to
emphasize the status of the monarchy
and Spain's history, and
Republicans, who wanted to
commemorate Spain's burgeoning
democracy with an official holiday.
Since 2000, October 12 has also been
Spain's Day of the Armed Forces,
celebrated each year with a military
parade in Madrid. Other than this,
however, the holiday is not widely
or enthusiastically celebrated in
Spain; there are no other
large-scale patriotic parades,
marches, or other events, and the
observation is generally
overshadowed by the feast day of Our
Lady of the Pillar
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