Spanish city bans Hispanic Day public holiday amid claims it 'celebrates genocide'

Activists in Barcelona also want holiday cancelled and statue of Christopher Columbus removed


A city in Spain has cancelled a public holiday commemorating the day Christopher Columbus first set foot in the Americas, saying it “glorifies the genocide” associated with Spanish occupation of the continent.

Badalona city council announced it was calling off the festivities for Hispanic Day on October 12, when schools and places of work are typically closed and military parades are held.

In a statement the council said it believed the holiday “celebrates the genocide of the occupation of America and has Francoist connotations”, and announced the decision to switch the day off to December 9 to make Spain’s Constitution Day holiday into a long weekend.

"There are people who chose to celebrate their Hispanic heritage on a day that doesn’t have the connotations of October 12," mayor Dolors Sabater told Onda Cero Radio. Full story...

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