Unplanned celebrations can be the best

It wasn’t planned, and it was hardly the most obvious way of doing it, but we enjoyed joining in the celebrations of the 12th of October.

This is the anniversary of the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus. That’s a pretty remarkable achievement. The very first man to reach that continent. Well, the very first apart from all the other Europeans that got there before him. To say nothing of the sixty or so million people who were already living there.

Still, not counting them, he was the first and that’s something to celebrate.

In Spain, the 12th of October is called El día de la Hispanidad, roughly translatable the day of Spanishness, and it’s the country’s national holiday. It’s a better name than the one it had before, which was Día de la Raza or Day of the Race (that’s nothing to do with running quickly, it’s race as in racism). 

That name always makes me think of what has to be the most remarkable moment associated with that day. That was when Miguel de Unamuno, novelist and logician, a specialist in paradoxes, spoke at a public meeting celebrating the day in the University of Salamanca, then under Fascist control, in 1936.

The audience contained members of the Spanish Foreign Legion, most of them armed. Their general, José Millán-Astray, was on the dais. He’d made famous the slogan he’d given to the Legion, ‘Viva la Muerte’, ’Long live Death’. Unamuno, who wasn’t due to speak, rose anyway. There’s no full account of his words, but he’s believed to have said: 

I, who have passed my entire life creating paradoxes which annoyed those who didn’t understand them, have to tell you as an authority in the field, that this paradox strikes me as ridiculous and repellent.

He’s also often quoted as saying, “you will win but you will not convince”, which works better in Spanish, since it includes a play on word, “venceréis pero no convenceréis”. Others reckon he said, “bear in mind that winning is not the same as convincing (vencer no es convencer), nor is conquering the same as converting”.

Unamuno (bearded) leaving the lecture theatre after his speech

They feel like the right words for something called the Day of Race. Not that they did Unamuno any good, since he was placed under house arrest where he died a few months later.

Today, the Spanish national day is a much less dire spectacle. The main procession, in Madrid, involves the royal family and the Prime Minister. Indeed, this year the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, was a little late so the King and Queen had to wait a couple of minutes in their car for him to turn up and join the greeting line to welcome them. That earned Sánchez whistles and boos, which seems a pity, given that he’s doing rather a good job, but there’s a powerful right wing here in Spain, not prepared to give him credit for anything, such as his excellent response to Covid.

Parachutist with Spanish flag for the 12th of October

With head of state and head of government present, there was likely to be a fair measure of pomp in the show. But it’s less marked than in some countries. I particularly liked the parachutist could came floating down from the sky with a Spanish flag, even getting a leg caught in it at one point (he disentangled himself before landing). And though there were the usual military things, like a flypast, tanks on tank transporters, and marching soldiers, all that was a little lightened by such sights as the detachment that came marching by with a sheep as its mascot.

A fine mascot

In any case, we weren’t there. Instead, we went out for a bike ride in the evening, showing up in the town of Pobla de Vallbona a little before six in the evening. That was when they were due to have their own procession. We found a bar where we could sit and have a drink with a good view of the festivities when they came past. 

Good-humoured national day procession in Pobla de Vallbona

It was fun. Lots of people showed up, including a great many children, no doubt attracted by the fact that the people on the floats would be throwing sweets and toys to the public. It was a small show, with about half a dozen floats, and plenty of music. It was all over in about ten minutes, but everyone was smiling and having a great time. That’s the kind of atmosphere that lightens the heart and gives good memories. Just what I’d hope for from a national day at human scale.

We hadn’t planned to be there. But I’m rather glad we were. Especially as it worked out so much better than for Unamuno.