Invasion or discovery: Day of Hispanidad
”In Latin America reconstructs its past to have a tolerant present and future, while in Spanish State, we keep mixing 12th October, Day of Hispanidad and Pilar´s Day, like a journey to show army parade, to exhibit all our country´s armamentistic power with a superior culture. We are doing it instead of using that day as a reflexion time about what was done well and what was not”, a last year Spanish student who was finishing his Journalism´s career in Argentina, Lucas G. Sal.
12th October is an official holiday in most Spanish towns because of what Spain did more than 500 years ago. “To endeavour this historical fact represent one of the most relevant moment for politic coexistence, cultural collect and the affirmation of the same statal identity and national singularity in this village” (trans. S. González García), Spanish law declares. The anniversary of the arrival of Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus) in the Americas was almost by mistake. This discovery meant almost 200 ton of gold and 7.000 of silver arriving to Spain in 1492, as Cuban economist and researcher Dionis Espinosa affirms in Faro de Vigo newspaper. But it also means thousands of hundred of deaths, epidemics, slavery and violations. This is why right now this festive day is called in question in towns as Badalona, in Barcelona.
Lucas G. Sal experienced how this celebration is in both sides of the planet: Argentina and Spain. “In some cases, this festival day was understood as a mix of both cultures, two different way to see the world which are not opposites, just they found to each other and started to live in common. In the university background I moved, Day of Hispanidad is an old and antiquated day in their nation and continen mind. So young people try to create kind of resistence during the celebration cause they affirm that it is been commemorating a genocide by Europeans, who killed whole communities in XVI century. There are so many centres where you can see “wiphala” flag, native´s proud and resistence flag, as a representation of collective meeting. This idea is the one Spanish State got in 2010 when we change “Día de la Raza” (Day of the Race ) for “Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural” (Day of Respect to Cultural Diversity): it has been changed the main meaning of the celebration. Moving from the European conqueror to community. This societies were invalidated but thew keep resisting and surviving, and this is what they want to celebrate.”
Even if Span and South America share language and tried to have one same culture, both areas have differences. And this is one of it. In Spain, today you will see Spanish flag in Madrid and a military procession during the whole afternoon with the King and Queen and many political members (although some of them as Pablo Iglesias chose not to go). In some countries as Argentina or Venezuela, you can find a colorful party with people dancing and “wiphala” flag.
“The idea from native villages seems is growing since 2000, when many countries changed the name to “Día de la Descolonización” (Decolonization Day), in Bolivia; “Día del Encuentro de Dos Mundos” (Day of Both World´s Meeting), in Chile; “Día de las Culturas” (Day of Cultures), Costa Rica; “Día de la Interculturalidad y Plurinacionalidad” (Day of Interculturality and Multi-Nationality) Ecuador; "Día de los Pueblos Originarios y del Diálogo Intercultural" (Day of Original Nation and Intercultural Dialogues) in Peru, or even “Día de la Resistencia Indígena” (Day of Native Resistance) in Nicaragua and Venezuela. I am sure it is late, but it is imporant to think about the meaning of this day and take it as a original cultural reivindication because of all killed and muted people, even from their own local governments; and we support tolerance among cultures. More intercultural connected does not mean ones are over the others”, Lucas G. Sal emphasizes.
Sabela González García
