The National Day of Spain (Spanish: Fiesta Nacional de España) is a national holiday held annually on 12 October. It is also traditionally and commonly referred to as the Día de la Hispanidad (Hispanicity, Spanishness Day), commemorating Spanish legacy worldwide, especially in Hispanic America.
The National Day of Spain is the day of celebration on which the Spanish people commemorate the country's history, recognize and appreciate achievements, reconfirm their commitment to the nation's future. The day celebrates unity and fraternity, and also shows Spain's ties with the international community.
Spanish law declares " The date chosen, 12 October, symbolizes the historical anniversary on which Spain, about to conclude a process of State construction based on our cultural and political diversity, and the integration of the kingdoms of Spain into the same monarchy, begins a period of linguistic and cultural projection beyond the boundaries of Europe. "
National Day of Spain commemorates the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus for Spain on 12 October 1492. The date is a key point for Spain's overseas influence and legacy to the world and to the Americas in particular. It symbolizes Spain's vast, common heritage with today's American countries, which made up the Spanish Empire, the first global power in world history.
12 October is also the official Spanish language day, the Feasts of both Our Lady of the Pillar and the Virgin of Zapopan as well as the Day of the Spanish Armed Forces.
12 October is also an official holiday in much of Hispanic America, though under varying names (Día de la Hispanidad, Día de la Raza, Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural, Día de la Resistencia Indígena, etc.). To varying degrees, these holidays celebrate the historical and cultural ties among Hispanic American countries, ties between them and Spain, and their common Hispanic and pre-Hispanic indigenous American heritage. Furthermore, on the second Monday in October, the United States celebrates Columbus Day/ Indigenous Peoples' Day.
National Day of Spain is a holiday throughout the entire country, so all central (national) government's and autonomous communities' (provincial) institutions and administration offices are closed on that day, as are banks and stores. National Day is celebrated in Spain through numerous public and private events organized throughout the country to praise the nation's heritage, history, society and people. The festivity is also celebrated by Spanish communities worldwide. Solemn acts of tribute to the national flag take place at different locations in Spain and abroad. The most important by far is the one held in the capital, Madrid, along with the Armed Forces parade. Other tribute, cultural, religious and vindicative parades and demonstrations are also organized by participants from civil society across Spain.
The distant origin of the holiday is to be found in the Roman Catholic tradition of the Virgin Mary's apparition "in flesh and blood" in Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza's name under the Roman Empire) to Apostle Saint James the Greater in AD 40 where a temple was built by the river Ebro, the first in the world dedicated to the cult of Saint Mary. Pilgrimage to Zaragoza to venerate Our Lady of the Pillar started in the early 8th century. Together with Saint James in Compostela, the spirituality of Christians in the Iberian Peninsula has centered around Our Lady of the Pillar for centuries.
On 27 May 1642 the city of Zaragoza designated Our Lady of the Pillar as a symbol of Hispanidad (Hispanicity), and the date became a feast in commemoration of the appearance of La Virgen del Pilar in the city.
In 1730, Pope Clement XII allowed the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar to be celebrated all over the Spanish Empire from then on.
On 23 September 1892 the queen regent of Spain, Maria Christina of Austria, promulgated a Royal Decree in San Sebastián, as proposed by the Prime Minister, Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, declaring 12 October 1892 a national day in commemoration of the 4th centenary of the discovery of America.
The preamble of that decree states the government had "considered appropriate to explore the position of all the American countries and Italy, as homeland of Columbus, to see if, by joint agreement, that commemoration could be vested with greater importance."
The preamble continues pointing out that "most governments of America have already adhered to the idea in principle, like that of the United States as well as those of the Hispanic American republics, with few exceptions, maybe because of temporary circumstances, which shall probably not prevent a unanimous resolution, and, for its part, the Government of his S.M. the King of Italy has also welcomed the invitation in the most cordial and satisfactory way." It is further stressed the opportunity of "perpetuating" such a commemoration as a National Day of Spain.
Hispanicity was celebrated again in Spain from 1935, when the first festival was held in Madrid. The day was known as Día de la Hispanidad ("Day of Hispanicity"), emphasizing Spain's connection to the international Hispanic community.
Hispanicity linked to the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar as historical background and symbol of the National Day of Spain are well expressed in a 1939 letter addressed by an Argentinian donor, Doña Soledad Alonso de Drysdale, to the Spanish government regarding the fundraising to complete the building of the last two of four towers of the Cathedral of the Pillar:
If, effectively, the funding comes from Hispanic America, these two towers will become an enviable symbol of Hispanicity (Spanishness), raised in the capital city of the kingdom that advanced the money used for the discovery of the New Word. (...) One second of January, feast of the Coming of the Virgin Mary in mortal flesh to Zaragoza, Granada surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs; Isabel and Ferdinand could dedicate time and thought to the enterprise proposed to them by the great navigator ; on a twelfth of October, feast of Our Lady of the Pillar, the three immortal caravels arrived at the first American lands. (...) If the architecture of the cathedral is completed and culminated with money from overseas, the symbolic value of the Holy Metropolitan Temple as Sanctuary of Hispanicity will have been totally affirmed.
«Si, en efecto, de la América Hispana viene el dinero, esas dos torres serán un símbolo envidiable de hispanidad, levantado en la capital del reino que anticipó el dinero para el descubrimiento del Nuevo Mundo. (...) En un día dos de enero, fiesta de la Venida de la Virgen en carne mortal a Zaragoza, se rendía Granada a los Reyes Católicos y podían dedicar Isabel y Fernando tiempo y meditaciones a la empresa que les proponía el gran navegante; en un día 12 de octubre, fiesta de Nuestra Señora del Pilar, las tres inmortales carabelas llegaban a las primeras tierras americanas. (...) Si es con dinero de Ultramar como (...) se completa y corona la arquitectura de la catedral, el valor simbólico del Santo Templo Metropolitano como Santuario de la Hispanidad habrá quedado consagrado totalmente.
In 1981, soon after the approval of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, the national day is renamed "Fiesta Nacional de España y Día de la Hispanidad" by Royal Decree On 7 October 1987, the reference to Hispanidad is discarded and the name is changed again to Fiesta Nacional. 12 October became one of two national celebrations, along with Constitution Day on December 6.