HISPANIC DAY OR NATIONAL DAY - 12th OCTOBER

Hispanic Day (Día de la Hispanidad) or National Day (Fiesta Nacional de España) is an annual national public holiday in Spain on October 12. It marks the anniversary of when Christopher Columbus first set foot in the Americas in 1492.

The king of Spain supervises the raising of the Spanish national flag in the center of Madrid on Hispanic Day. He and the prime minister lead a military parade after that. The parade includes representatives from most of Spain's military units and various military vehicles. Armed forces' planes perform aerobatics above the parade route and display yellow and red smoke to represent the Spanish flag. Radio, television and Internet news services broadcast live on these events.

Hispanic Day is a day off work and an opportunity to spend time quietly at home or in the company of family members and close friends. People in the Aragon region in the north-east of Spain also commemorate Our Lady of the Pillar, their patron saint, on October 12.