Columbus Day in Spain

October 12, 1492, is the date Christopher Columbus first discovered the "New World" of the Americas. In the United States, we usually honor it with a school holiday on the closest Monday in October. Here in Spain, it is celebrated on the 12th, no matter what day of the week that is. The discovery was a huge part of Spanish history, and the date is recognized as one of their most important national holidays! I know why Americans celebrate this holiday, but I never thought of it from the Spanish perspective. So I did a little research and exploring...

Statue in Cordoba's castle garden, commemorating Columbus
receiving a commission from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella
to gather a crew and sail for the 'West Indies'.

Puerto's castle, where Columbus stayed

So, to begin our history lesson, let me remind you that 1492 is an important year for the Spanish, not just because of Columbus, but also because that is when the country of Spain was actually unified and created. Until then, it had been a collection of territories occupied by various tribes, ruled by the Romans, then the Visigoths, then the Moors. When King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella married, they represented the 2 largest territories in the North, who were both Catholic. Together, they were able to remove the Moors permanently from their strongholds in the South where they had been in power for almost 700 years. This area where I live, Andalusia, was the final Moorish stronghold, and Ferdinand and Isabella conquered it in... 1492. Columbus at that point had already spent several years appealing to the Italians, then the Portuguese, and finally the Spanish to finance his expedition to India. Queen Isabella initially rejected his proposal in 1489, but signed a mandate that all Castillian towns provide him with food and lodging at no cost. Perhaps she wanted to finish the war with the Moors, or maybe she just wanted to keep Columbus from appealing to other nations. At any rate, it seems almost every town in this area has a house or monastery where he stayed while finalizing plans and gathering his crew. For example, he stayed in a house and at the castle in Puerto de Santa Maria. And one of his crew members from Rota, Batholomé Perez, is credited with being the first to sight the New World! Rota's main square by the castle is named for him. Ferdinand and Isabella finally agreed to finance his expedition, and he signed a contract that he would become Governor of any lands that were discovered, and keep 10% of any spoils. He departed on August 3rd, 1492, from the nearby town of Huelva (north of here, towards Portugal), which has an enormous festival every summer to commemorate his departure. They also have full-sized replicas of his 3 ships that were built for the 500th anniversary celebration in 1992. It is incredible that people crossed the ocean on ships that small!

full-sized replicas of Columbus's ships in Huelva, Spain

Well, as we know, Columbus didn't make it to India because there was an enormous land mass in the way. He found the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and the Bahamas, then returned to Spain with gold, peppers, and fruit from the "West Indies," which he insisted was China or Japan. His discovery shocked the European continent, and made Spain an instant world power, a position they would exploit for several centuries with more explorers like Ferdinand Magellan, and victories over the entire American continents by the conquistadors.Columbus's journey was so significant that Spain changed their coat of arms upon his return. It originally showed the Pillars of Hercules on either side, with the Latin words Non plus ultra, meaning 'nothing beyond this.' The pillars supposedly stood at the Strait of Gibraltar, controlled by Spain, and the motto meant that they were the guardians of the edge of the world. When Columbus returned, they changed the phrase to Plus ultra, meaning 'beyond this.' Spain now saw itself as the guardian to the New World, and that is what is on the Spanish flag to this day. The New World gold flowed into Spain through the city of Sevilla, and it is because of Columbus that Sevilla's buildings are so beautiful and ornate.

Columbus's tomb in Sevilla's cathedral
(insignia of Ferdinand and Isabella on soldiers)

Unfortunately, the rest of Columbus's story is not quite so rosy. Hailed as a national hero, he was allowed to make 3 additional journeys to the Americas, eventually landing on mainland South and Central America. On each voyage, he set up local government to mine gold and collect slaves. The Spanish were initially disappointed by the lack of spices and gold in the New World. After the 3rd voyage, he remained in the Caribbean as a governor for 7 years, but apparently his violent actions as ruler shocked both the indigenous people and the crown. He was sent back to Spain and imprisoned, along with his brothers. He was finally released and permitted to make a 4th journey but he had to relinquish all claims of being a governor, so part of his 4th journey was spent stranded in Jamaica after his fleet was destroyed by a hurricane. During that time he impressed the natives by accurately predicting a lunar eclipse. He was eventually rescued and returned to Spain, along with his 15-year-old son, but he died in a monastery, essentially under "house arrest." Ultimately, he was buried in honor, and his tomb is on public display in Sevilla's Cathedral.

I learned all of this from a combination of information from travel guides, the tour guide I had in class last week, and Wikipedia. :-) I find Columbus Day to be an interesting holiday for the Spanish, because it celebrates the beginning of their Golden Age-- conquering the Moors, discovering New Lands, and a brief period during which they had superiority over the rest of Europe. Their navigation abilities also led to the build up of their Armada, which was the strongest naval power until their defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Trafalgar is also near Rota, about 1 hour south along the coast. So whether you go there, or to Sevilla, or Huelva, or just to Rota's town square, I hope you find a way to explore and enjoy this historic holiday! :-)