The Curiosity Of Hispanicity

Spain's National Day is a curious affair. Away from Madrid, it isn't a big deal. In Mallorca the Virgen del Pilar fiesta of the same date carries more weight, albeit that this is not as it was. 12 October has become a public holiday, a ritual one largely confined to rituals of military parading in Madrid, to some religious ritual and to a further one honouring the Guardia Civil, whose patron is Pilar, the saint on a pillar in Zaragoza and the image of the Virgin Mary. Otherwise, the ritual is like other public holidays: a day off and, if you're lucky with the weather, a day on the beach.

It is curious in another respect in that the adoption of 12 October first really came about in 1913 as a fiesta for celebrating common bonds of the Spanish people and the Spanish lands of South America. There had, by then, been commemorations of Columbus's discovery for some twenty years or so in Buenos Aires, and in 1913 a name was given to this day, the Fiesta de al Raza - the festival of the race, the Spanish race.

This was to morph into the Día de la Hispanidad, the day of Hispanicity, and the change was largely driven from Argentina. Among others, a one-time Spanish ambassador to Argentina, Ramiro de Maeztu, had proposed the adoption of this name in 1931. Three years later, the Archbishop of Toledo picked up on Maeztu's proposal and presented the discourse "Apologia de la Hispanidad" - the defence of the Hispanic peoples and heritage. A year later, in 1935 and in the time of the Second Republic, the first Día de la Hispanidad was celebrated. Maeztu spoke and referred to the whole of Spain and of Spain in the Americas being a part of it. One further year on, with Spain at war, he was executed by the Republicans.

In 1939, the Civil War over, the official celebration took place in Zaragoza. For the Nationalists and for Franco, it was a day that brought together all that it held dear and all that it wished to correct. Spain and Hispanicity had themselves been through the wars for decades. For example, there had been humiliation with the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. The upheavals that had endured for so long were to be replaced by a reassertion of Spain the nation and Spain in the wider world. Allied to this was the fundamentalism of the Catholic conservatism that the regime espoused. The Virgen del Pilar was, therefore, definitively and symbolically linked to this day of nationalism - the mother of the Hispanic peoples.

It wasn't until 1958 that the day was officially declared as a public holiday and as the "fiesta nacional". Following the death of Franco and the establishment of democracy, there were to be two decrees. One of 1981 maintained the title Día de la Hispanidad; a second, in 1987, didn't. Though it was never formally abandoned - and it is still used - there appeared to be an attempt at creating a distance with the concept of Hispanicity.

Nowadays, it is a day that is rejected in certain quarters. The presidents of Catalonia and the Basque Country did not attend the Madrid military parade, and they never have. In Mallorca, there were protests of the what's-there-to-celebrate variety. The mayor and other councillors from Més and the Republican Left were among those who didn't have a day off. They worked instead. The day of Hispanicity, the national fiesta, the Guardia Civil celebration: none of these would close the town hall for the day, observed mayor Miquel Oliver.

There is something else that is curious about this day. National days are not uncommon. The French have one, Bastille Day. The Italians celebrate the post-Second World War referendum which definitively established the republic. The Dutch have King's Day. Germany has one of sorts - to mark reunification. The British don't have one. But Spain's day stands out for the fact that its roots lie with the notion of Hispanicity, of the Spanish peoples. The French don't promote global Frenchness as such. Neither the Italians nor the Dutch indulge in celebrating the reach of their nations to any extent.

Of one-time imperial powers, it is only the Spanish who, even if it is officially no longer recognised, have this universality. In certain respects, it is understandable. There are an awful lot of Hispanic people across the globe, while the impetus behind the day was as much one from a part of former empire as it was a domestic creation. But perhaps it is a reflection of a psyche, of the loss of the discovery by Columbus and of the creation of empire and of a people that was to disintegrate and unravel. And right now, the assertions of National Day are against the background of another possible unravelling - the nation itself. 

The Nation's Party Is Cancelled

Tomorrow is a national holiday. Take note. National. Whole of Spain. There is no national holiday more national than tomorrow as it is the Día de la Hispanidad - day of Spanishness, or Hispanicity if you prefer; the Spanish national day that coincides with (took its lead from in fact) the discovery of an island in the Bahamas by an Italian, though some would argue that Columbus wasn't Italian but was in fact Mallorcan. Or Ibizan. Or whatever.

In Catalonia they get a day off like the rest of the population. Will the two million or however many it was who demonstrated recently in favour of independence be putting their feet up? Possibly, though there will doubtless be some who are out on the streets to make their feelings known again. It won't be anything new. Five years ago there was a demonstration at which it was claimed that the Catalan lands (so not just Catalonia) were the last colony of the Spanish monarchy. Also five years ago a vox pop by "Ultima Hora" asked Mallorcans what the day meant to them. One chap said that it was of no consequence except for the fact that he didn't have to work. Chances are that he doesn't have any work to go to now anyway. 

This year's Spanishness day should really have been cancelled. It's not as if there is a great deal to celebrate, but the tourism industry would have been up in arms if it had been. Falling on a Friday, it makes a nice little "puente" for long weekends to be flogged, assuming anyone's buying. And of course there are other places that go in for Spanishness day; a total of 27 countries get in on the act, says one source. Being exact is slightly difficult, as the day goes under various titles. Even in Spain it has different meanings - the day of the armed forces, las fiestas del Pilar, and Fiesta Nacional de España. In fact this latter title is what the day officially is - a law of 1987 says so - but Hispanidad has not been forgotten.

It's a curious old thing when you think about it; the way that national days have come about. The Spanish have a day thanks to an Italian, while the Catalonians have a separate day as well, one which commemorates their being on the receiving end of a thorough hiding by nasty old Philip V. Even more curious is that there all these Hispanic sorts across the globe engaged in celebrating something connected with an old empire. The British would never get away with a Britishness day in far-flung former colonies. There is still Commonwealth Day which replaced Empire Day, itself a late Victorian invention by a Canadian, but no one takes any notice.

So, given the global reach of Spanishness, 12 October couldn't just be sidelined for a year, despite the motherland being in an almighty great pickle. In acts of historical fraternity, perhaps the old colonies should start sending food parcels. The Cruz Roja (Red Cross) would be only too happy to dole them out; it has launched, the first time it has ever done this, a campaign to help Spanish families in need. Yep, this year's national fiesta, this year's national party, will only be a party if Red Cross parcels are left on doorsteps.

I wonder what we Brits make of this Spanishness or Hispanicity. It is more than likely that we make precisely nothing of it, but if I were to ask for definitions, what would they be? Above all, one supposes, there is the language, but which one? The Catalonians wouldn't go along with Castellano and nor would those from various other regions. A one-time empire, the Armada and all that? It's probably best to gloss over the latter for fear of bringing up reminders of Drake cruising into Cádiz and giving the Armada a Philip V-sized hammering.

I suspect the answers would be less grand. Xavi would probably make a British list, except of course he is from Catalonia. Julio Iglesias and the boy Enrique? Maybe. Paella and tapas definitely. Bullfighting definitely but hardly popular with the average Brit, except those with their old El Cordobés posters. Miniature donkeys with straw hats? Sombreros? Sylvia and "Y Viva España"? (And Sylvia wasn't even Spanish and nor were the songwriters.)

Other than these cultural symbols, there are the daily bulletins from the Euroland intensive care unit. It is this, I'm sorry to have to say, which is how most Brits and the rest of the world will think of Spanishness in 2012. National fiesta, national party? I'm gonna party like it's ... If only it were still 1999.


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Took Some Time To Celebrate

Another day, another holiday. What’s this one? Día de la Hispanidad - day of Spanishness, or something like that. A national day, though there are some factions none too keen on the whole deal, like some of the Catalonians, a bunch of whom are using today to declare that the Catalan countries are the last colony of the Spanish monarchy. Whatever.

In actual fact today is a sort of three-in-one day as it is also Columbus’s day and the day for the Virgen del Pilar. How about that, three “holidays” and they go and put them all on the same day, but given that holidays come thick and fast here, we should be grateful, or ungrateful, depending on your view. One chap in “Ultima Hora”, asked about the meaning of today, reckons it is of no consequence except for the fact that he doesn’t have to work. Like public holidays everywhere, in other words.

And just a footnote to yesterday’s history lesson. There was something else that bugged me about that article. Couldn’t put my finger on it. Then it registered. The article says that “a man named Pedro de Córdoba wrote to King Ferdinand (Fernando) in 1517 and told the monarch ...” What this “man” (actually a quite important figure of the times) told the king is of little consequence as, and this was what had been concerning me, Fernando died in 1516.

And as I looked at this article again, I noticed something else very strange. It says that Columbus could have merged two cultures, one of them (the Spanish presumably) being a culture that “had grown with the teachings of Aristotle, Galileo and Newton.” Eh!? Galileo was born in 1564, Newton in 1663. Given that Columbus died in 1506 ... Enough, enough. Where do they get this rubbish from?


QUIZ
Yesterday - Chick Corea. Today’s title is the second line from ...?

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