Tomorrow is October 12, 2025, the day on which the National Celebration of Columbus Day will take placea date that commemorates the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492. In 1892, the decision was made to highlight the fact of discovering a new continent by establishing it as a historical event. Starting in 1918, the entire peninsular territory requested to celebrate, annually, October 12 as Hispanic Heritage Day.
Barcelona will witness this Sunday a day in which a demonstration will take place starting at 10:00 a.m. with the opening of an Entity Fair in the central mosaic of the Plaza de Catalunya. This concentration of people will be organized by the Movimiento Cívico d’Espanya i Catalans and Cataluña Suma por España and organizations from constitutionalist associations will also play their part.
The celebration of Hispanic Heritage Day: for some yes and for others no
The perception of Hispanidad can vary depending on the culture, history or political ideas of each person. For many, andThis celebration is a perfect reflection of that vindication of national pride where the achievements made by Spain in collaboration with Columbus are celebrated. However, also It is true that there are people, groups or groups that do not see it favorably.such as public organizations or government systems.
The same can happen with towns and municipalities; in fact, It has happened to some located in Catalonia who have rejected the celebration of this National Holiday. The most specific examples are located in the province of Barcelona and We have to go back several years to remember 12-O in which Hispanicity was greatly reduced in those places.
The L’Hospitalet de Llobregat City Council rejected the PP proposal
The 1October 2, 2013, the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregatwhich was governed by PSC and ICV-EUiA, rejected a proposal from the Popular Party that had as its objective the holding of an official event during 12-O on the occasion of Hispanidad. This suggestion encouraged holding an official event, as was done during the Diada, based on the fact that “the National Holiday of Spain is a symbol of unity of all Spaniards around a common project of solidarity.” The response from Francesc Josep Belver, former spokesperson for the PSC, was to say no to this idea and accused the popular people of “pour gasoline on the fire” to a possible confrontation linked to the independence debate that was a protagonist on the political agendas of Catalonia.
Colonialist, racist and dictatorial values for the Badalona City Council in 2016
In 2016, Badalona City Council He made the decision to flatly refuse to celebrate Hispanidad. It should be noted that that day was not a holiday in the city and the municipal offices remained open. The mayor of Badalona at that time, Dolors Sabaterexpressed that the commemoration of October 12 maintains colonialist, racist and dictatorial values. “We are convinced that many people who feel Spanish do not feel comfortable with the values of October 12, which have anti-democratic roots”declared in an interview for Zero Wave and collected by Europa Press.
The no to VOX by the Sant Adrià de Besòs City Council on October 12, 2023
More recently, The Sant Adrià de Besòs City Council rejected a proposal from VOX requesting the celebration of Hispanic Heritage by commemorating the streets of the municipality with red and yellow flags. The argument of this party was the same as that of the popular ones mentioned in the previous paragraph. As the Diada is celebrated, the council was also encouraged to give the same value to this National Holiday. Finally, the suggestion was rejected and Vox regretted this decision. Jordi de la Fuente, councilor of Sant Adrià de Besòs expressed the following words in response to the refusal: “We don’t want to get into a debate about flags”he expressed before ensuring that the common people maintain the incorrect thinking of “the black legend of genocide in Latin America”.