Hispanic Heritage Day

Hispanic Heritage Day

Hispanic Heritage Day is the name given to October 12, the day that commemorates the arrival in America of the navigator Christopher Columbus in 1492. This day is celebrated in most Spanish-speaking countries and in the United States. among other countries. It was created at the beginning of the 20th century, at the initiative of the former Spanish Prime Minister Faustino Rodríguez-San Pedro.

 



That is why it was promoted by the Ibero-American Union, and for whose realization it is proposed to carry out an initiative in 1913, to commemorate the date of the discovery of America, in such a way that at the same time as a tribute. in memory of the immortal Christopher Columbus, they serve to externalize the spiritual intimacy that exists between the discovering and civilizing Nation and those formed on American soil, today prosperous States.

The Union celebrated for the first time the (Fiesta de la Raza Española) in 1914 and in 1915 it was celebrated as (Día de la Raza) in the Casa Argentina de Málaga, and from 1917 the Madrid City Council assumed the celebration of the «Fiesta de La Raza ”in the capital of Spain. It becomes a national holiday by law of Alfonso XIII of June 15, 1918.

 



In 1917, Hipólito Yrigoyen, president of the Argentine Republic, declared that day a national holiday. Although the decree does not give it a specific name, the press and custom imposed the Day of the Race, “although not all those who there we applauded the substance of the party, we agreed with the name with which it was designated ”, in the words of the Argentine journalist Ernesto Mario Barreda.


The name was proposed at the end of the 1920s by Archbishop Zacarías de Vizcarra (Spanish priest, resident in Buenos Aires) to the journalist Ramiro de Maeztu (at that time, ambassador of Spain in Buenos Aires), since he considered “not very happy and somewhat improper »the name Columbus Day. The new name was gradually replacing the old one in Spain, until on January 10, 1958 it was made official by decree of the Presidency of the Government.

Original Post: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%ADa_de_la_Raza

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