October 12th is Columbus Day, click here and find out what it is all about!
http://ericblackink.minnpost.com/2007/10/08/happy-columbus-day/
What do you think of this story!!!
En España también estamos de fiesta, pincha aquí, ¡averigua por qué!
http://sobreespana.com/2008/09/28/zaragoza-las-fiestas-del-pilar/
3 comments:
After reading the story that Eric Black has written, I understand why there's a question mark after the word Happy (Happy? Columbus Day). To my astonishment I didn't know that Columbus's behaviour in America wasn't as good and proper as many people think, far from it that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella concluded that Columbus was a good sailor but a disastrous colonial governor. Anyway, he has been always an enigmatic person and many historians are researching on his life currently as there are many gaps in our knowledge about him.
I didn't know much about Columbus Day in other countries. In relate with the report of Eric Black about "Columbus’s history", I am not surprise. We had heard that in name of Christendom the colonizers had a cruel behaviour with natives, doing of that an excuse to enslave the population.
In Spain, we celebrate "El día de la Espanidad". Here in Andalusia, we call this bank holiday as The Pilar's day without any special activity.
As far as I know, only in Madrid and Zaragoza has a big celebration, that comes from the dictatorship when the dictator Francisco Franco, after his link with the catholic church he named the "El día de la Espanidad" as a Pilar's Day.
In Zaragoza people make an offering of flowers to the virgin, and in Madrid is celebrated the parade army in the Square of Columbus, where the king and the president of government have to attend.
I think that the discovery of America for spanish people must be a proud achivement of our ancestors. They were brave to cross a sea "crowded" of legendary monsters (craken, end of the Earth...) and their strenth allowed us to know a new land. Our queen Isabel could see in Colón a man who had a great view of how the Earth was and supported him against many people who didn´t believe in Colon´s ideas. America and Europe exchanged many ideas and goods. In one side, America gave to European people many things (chocolate, sugar, potatoes..) and european people gave them new values (languages, scientific kwnoledge,..)In the other side, many indian people died (war, new illnesses, being slaves...)and new illnesses were carried to Europe
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