Today we celebrate the National Day of Galicia, and you may be wondering what that means. Isn’t Galicia part of Spain? Shouldn’t it be a regional holiday or National Day of Spain? Well, it is a national day because Galicia is an autonomous territory in Spain.
The history of Galicia is fascinating. It’s always been its own separate culture and territory, but many changes and empires have taken over the land through the centuries. The most important being, of course, the Spanish empire.
However, the people of Galicia have always separated themselves and they did get the freedom to do so. They had the status of “reign” and were allowed to have autonomy. This was the case for many years and in 1919, they chose July 25th as the national day (in honor of Saint James the Great). The first celebration was held on July 25, 1920.
All was well until Francisco Franco took over Spain and his dictatorship prohibited all displays of non-Spanish nationalism. But even during those years, the people of Galicia celebrated clandestinely and gathered using other excuses.
During the 1960s, people tried to celebrate it openly and this led to clashes with the police and even after Franco’s death, Galicians weren’t allowed to celebrate right away. This holiday came back in full force until the mid-1980s and it is now a national celebration with lots of activities!
Have fun learning!
