Día de la Hispanidad: Why 12 October Has So Many Names

By the Audaz Revista editorial team

Updated October 12, 2026 · Reviewed by the Audaz editorial team

For a long time, 12 October was simply Día de la Raza. Mexico’s human rights commission, the CNDH, puts it plainly. The day was “una celebración por la llegada de Cristóbal Colón a América”. In English: a celebration of Columbus arriving in the Americas. Every country below still marks that date. Read the CNDH note.

What changed is the name. Each new name tells you how a country now sees that history. For a learner, each one is also a small lesson in Spanish. At Audaz Revista, we read the law or decree behind each name. Our guide to festivals across the Spanish-speaking world covers the rest of the calendar.

What does each country call 12 October?

Here is the official name in each country we checked, with the rule that set it. The English is our own translation.

Spain is the one exception in the table. Its current law dates from 1987. Colombia made the most recent change, in 2021.

Where did the name Día de la Raza come from?

The idea started in Madrid. In 1913 an association called the Unión Ibero-Americana proposed a yearly celebration. Its president was Faustino Rodríguez San Pedro, a former mayor of Madrid and a former minister. The association held the first Fiesta de la Raza on 12 October 1914.

Its aim, in its own words, was to show “la intimidad espiritual existente entre la Nación descubridora y civilizadora y las formadas en el suelo americano”. That means the spiritual closeness between the nation that discovered and civilised, and the nations formed on American soil. Spain is the discoverer in that sentence. Many later names tell the story from the other side of the ocean.

Spain made it law in 1918. The law says: “Se declara fiesta nacional, con la denominación de Fiesta de la Raza, el día 12 de Octubre de cada año.” In English: 12 October of each year is declared a national holiday, under the name Festival of the Race. Read the 1918 text in the BOE archive.

Raza is a tricky word for learners. In English, race can sound biological. The first meaning in the RAE dictionary is different: “casta o calidad del origen o linaje”, caste or quality of origin or lineage. The 1918 bill spoke of the ties that bind Spain to the American nations, and of “la hermandad”, the brotherhood.

How did 12 October become Día de la Hispanidad?

The word hispanidad came from Argentina. In 1934 the Spanish writer Ramiro de Maeztu published a book called Defensa de la Hispanidad. The book quotes a line from a small Buenos Aires weekly, El Eco de España: “El 12 de octubre, mal titulado el Día de la Raza, deberá ser en lo sucesivo el Día de la Hispanidad.”

In English: 12 October, wrongly called the Day of the Race, should from now on be the Day of Hispanidad. Maeztu credited the word to a Spanish priest living in Argentina, Zacarías de Vizcarra.

The RAE dictionary defines hispanidad as “carácter genérico de todos los pueblos de lengua y cultura hispánica”. That is the shared character of all peoples who share the Spanish language and culture. Its second meaning is the community of those peoples.

Spain took up the name in 1958. A decree dated 10 January that year gave the celebration the name Día de la Hispanidad, the Day of Hispanidad. The 1958 decree also credits Argentina’s president Hipólito Yrigoyen with spreading the celebration.

A royal decree of 1981 gave the day two names at once: Fiesta Nacional de España y Día de la Hispanidad. Then came Law 18/1987. Its single article reads: “Se declara Fiesta Nacional de España, a todos los efectos, el día 12 de octubre.” The word Hispanidad doesn’t appear in it.

Why did so many countries rename the day?

The newer names move the focus from Spain to the Americas. Each law explains itself in its own words.

Venezuela chose resistance in 2002

Decree 2.028 named the day Día de la Resistencia Indígena. Its first article says the day recognises “nuestra autoafirmación americanista por la unidad y diversidad cultural y humana”. That is our American self-affirmation, through cultural and human unity and diversity.

Argentina chose respect in 2010

Decree 1584/2010 lists 12 October as Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural. It also tells the government to run campaigns. Their goal is to promote historical reflection on the value of the holidays that mark history.

Bolivia and Ecuador chose new words in 2011

Bolivia’s Supreme Decree 1005 named it Día de la Descolonización, Decolonisation Day.

Ecuador’s Executive Decree 910 chose Día de la Interculturalidad y Plurinacionalidad.

Peru, Mexico and Colombia chose diversity

Peru’s Law 29421 of 2009 named the day Día de los Pueblos Originarios y del Diálogo Intercultural. Pueblos originarios are the original peoples, those who lived in the land first.

Mexico followed in 2020. A decree in the Diario Oficial de la Federación declared 12 October Día de la Nación Pluricultural. It isn’t a day off, though. Mexico’s Federal Labour Law doesn’t list it among the compulsory rest days.

Colombia changed in 2021. Resolution 138 of the Ministry of Culture set the name Día de la Diversidad Étnica y Cultural de la Nación Colombiana. The magazine Semana summed it up in its headline: “Ya no es el Día de la Raza”. It’s no longer the Day of the Race. The holiday itself stays, and Colombia moves it to a Monday when needed.

Chile and Costa Rica took two other paths

Chile’s Law 19.668 of 2000 calls it “día del descubrimiento de dos mundos”, the day of the discovery of two worlds. The law speaks of two worlds, in the plural.

Costa Rica went further. In 2020, Law 9803 removed 12 October as a holiday, according to the labour ministry. It made 1 December a holiday instead: the Día de la Abolición del Ejército, the Day of the Abolition of the Army.

What can these names teach a Spanish learner?

Read the names in order and you can watch the words change. The early names are about Spain and its bond with the Americas. The newer ones are about the peoples who were already there. Here are the key words, with the RAE’s meaning.

• Raza. In the RAE’s first sense: caste or quality of origin or lineage.
• Hispanidad. The shared character of the peoples of the Spanish language and culture.
• Resistencia. A group that opposes the invaders of a territory, usually in secret.
• Descolonización. The ending of a territory’s colonial status.
• Interculturalidad. The quality of what concerns the relationship between cultures.
• Plurinacional. Of many nations. Its noun, plurinacionalidad, isn’t in the dictionary yet.

The same date has a different name in Madrid and Mexico City. Plenty of everyday words differ too, as our piece on Spain and Mexico Spanish shows. And Spanish is the world’s second most spoken language, so there are many places to hear each name.

How should you talk about 12 October in Spanish?

Frequently asked questions

In a hurry? We also made a short web story version of this piece.