Diplomacy, tourism and national identity: The October 12 celebration in Spain during the Cold War

Abstract

Patriotic celebrations and commemorations have received attention in recent studies on nationalism and territorial identities. October 12 has been the Spanish National Day since 1987. It was known first as the “Day of the Race” in 1918 and became the “Day of Hispanidad” in 1958. The celebration – which survived and adapted to political change, regional differences and international conjunctures throughout the twentieth century – evokes Spain’s imperial past with its identification of “Spanishness”, both among Spaniards and in the world. This paper explores how tourism, in full expansion during the Francoist regime, was incorporated into the staging and shaping of the international dimension of this itinerant celebration across Spanish territory, spreading landscapes, territories and meanings for October 12, appealing to national, regional and transnational identities. The analysis focuses on the deployment of public actors and civil associations during the celebrations of 1957 and 1963 to prove how this symbol became an instrument of cultural diplomacy and the expression of an idea of Spain in the world during the Cold War.