Canary Islands Day - 30 May

Canary Islands Day (in Spanish: Día de las Canarias) is a public holiday in the Canary Islands, an autonomous community belonging to Spain, which falls on May 30 each year. 

This event celebrates the culture of the islands and people, and also marks the anniversary of the first meeting of the Parliament in the Canary Islands on May 30, 1983.   

The Canary Islands are a group of seven inhabited islands that form an archipelago (also called the Canary Archipelago) in the Atlantic Ocean, near the southwestern coast of Morocco.

In the past, the islanders were the Guanchians who made their living from fishing, picking fruit, farming and raising sheep. 

In 1402 the Spanish conquest began, and ships began to arrive in search of slaves and treasures. The Guanchians resisted the Spanish conquest, which lasted about 100 years and ended in 1496, when the natives surrendered and were annexed to the kingdom of Cecilia (Spain).

The conquest of the Canary Islands was characterized by the enslavement of the islanders, the destruction of their culture and the domination of Christianity. The inhabitants of the original islands had to assimilate into the Christian population or be killed. The islands were an excellent strategic place for traders to go to India, Africa and America, which brought prosperity to many of those who survived the occupation.

On August 10, 1982, the islands were granted the status of an autonomous community.

Canary Islands Flag

Some elements of the original cultures have survived to this day. One interesting element is Silvu, a language in which instead of talking - whistling. Today the language is almost extinct and can be heard in a few places in the islands, for example on the island of La Gomera. 

Today's Canary Islands live mainly from tourism. The islands are full of sunny and exotic beaches, and spectacular views. There are many volcanoes on the islands, some of which are active, nature reserves of needle forests and subtropical forests, the shores of dunes and streams.

Copyright: tonobalaguer / 123RF Stock Photo  A beach on Lanserote Island

The islands that make up the Canary archipelago are: La Palma, Tenerife, Lanserote, El Aero, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, Puertaventura. 

The largest island is Tenerife, which covers 2,059 square kilometers and has about 908,000 inhabitants.

A street in Santa Cruz on the island of La Palma, Copyright: tonobalaguer / 123RF Stock Photo

Spanish Language Day- April 23

April 23 is the day of the Spanish language. Spanish (or Castellano) is a language belonging to the Roman language group, which has developed from the Latin language.

Spanish Language Day was celebrated for the first time in October 12, as part of Spanish Heritage Month. The date was later changed to April 23 to pay homage to Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. De Cervantes died on April 22, 1616, but according to the custom of the time his death was recorded on the day of his funeral, April 23, so that date was chosen as the day commemorating his death.



Spanish is the most spoken Romanian language (the other Romanian languages ​​are Italian, Portuguese, French, and Romanian).



570 million people speak Spanish around the world, making it the third language spoken in the world after Chinese Mandarin and English. 470 million people speak Spanish as their mother tongue, and it is the second most spoken mother tongue in the world.



The countries that speak Spanish are: Uruguay, El Salvador, Ecuador, Argentina, United States, Bolivia, Belize, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Venezuela, Mexico, Nicaragua, Spain, Puerto Rico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru , Chile, Cuba, Colombia, Costa Rica.

Spanish is one of the official languages of the United Nations.

In honor of the Spanish Day, get some interesting facts about it:

Spanish was influenced by the Arabic language. The Arab armies began to conquer the Iberian peninsula in 711, bringing with them the art, architecture and Arabic language to the region. Arabic gradually mixed with ancient Spanish, which became the language spoken today. When Spain expelled the Arabs in 1492, the language retained some 8,000 Arabic words. Apart from Latin, Arabic is the largest donor to Spanish. Many words in Spanish come from the Arabic language like: alfombra (carpet), la almendra (almonds) and almohada (pillow).

The Spanish language is poetic and has long sentences. When translating from English to Spanish, text is expected to expand by 15-25%. The reason for this expansion lies in the fact that the Spanish is more detailed, poetic and expressive.

When Colgate wanted to advertise in Spanish-speaking countries, it encountered an obstacle because the word Colgate sounds like "Cuelgue" which means "hang yourself."

In written Spanish, at the beginning of each question you have to write an inverse question mark (¿).

If you want to drink in the Spanish-speaking countries Coca-Cola, you'd better ask for Coca, because the word "cola" in Spanish means "buttocks."

When the Spanish-speaking gold and countries explorers arrived in the North American continent, they marked the place on the map as "aca nada" (here there is nothing). This is how Canada accepted her name according to one of the hypotheses.

The series "Dora the Explorer" was originally intended to teach American children Spanish.

In the Spanish version of SpongeBob, the names of all the characters are translated into Spanish in a way that resembles telenovela a little - Bob Esponja (SpongeBob), Patricio Estrella (Patrick Star), Calamardo Tentáculos (Squidward Tentacles), Arenita Mejillas (Sandy Cheeks), Don Cangrejo (Mr. Krabs), Perlita (Mr. Krabs' daughter Perla). And only Gary remained Gary. Another little thing: if you try to translate the names fully in Google translate, you will get the names of the characters and not the literal translation of the words.

Hallmark Vida Spanish Greeting Card

Want to learn Spanish? You can do this for free through the Duolingo application, which is used for language learning. The app is supported by donations from companies like Google, but also receives donations from a private individual who has decided to take them as a project: Ashton Kutcher.

April 23 is also World Book Day and English Language Day

Constitution Day in Spain - December 6

Spain's Constitution Day is the day Spain celebrates its becoming a democracy and the enactment of its constitution, on December 6, 1978, after the years of King Franco's dictatorship.

Spain is a country in southwestern Europe located on the Iberian Peninsula and borders Portugal, France, Gibraltar and Andorra.

The official language of Spain is Spanish and its capital is Madrid.

In honor of the Constitution Day celebrated in Spain, get some amazing facts about this country that you probably did not know:

Spain is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union.

The official name of Spain is "Kingdom of Spain".

Defamation of the royal family in Spain can lead to a sentence of up to two years in prison.

In 2013, Spain was in third place in the list of the most visited countries in the world.

There are no words in Spain's national anthem.

The youngest king ever was Alfonso XIII of Spain, who became king from the day he was born.

In 1492, the Catholic kings of Spain issued an order to expel all Jews from Spain. The Muslim Sultan of Izid sent the Ottoman navy to Spain to save the Jews from the persecution of the Spaniards.

Only 72% of Spaniards speak Spanish. The rest speak Catalan, Galician, Basque and other languages.

The first modern man arrived in Iberia (now Spain) about 35,000 years ago on foot from the north.

The Tomatina is an annual festival held in Spain where people throw thousands of tomatoes at each other.

The Eiffel Tower was originally intended for Barcelona, Spain, but the project was rejected.

Source: Instagram 

The Church of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona has been under construction for over 130 years and construction is expected to be completed by 2026.

Spain had more unemployment in 2013 (27.2%) than the US during the Great Depression (25%).

In 2011, a small town in Spain that was on the verge of economic collapse, participated in the largest lottery in the world and won.

Spanish rice is not known in Spain.

source: Amazon

43% of the world's olive oil is produced in Spain.

In 1894 Japan offered to buy the Philippines from Spain for 40 million pounds.

In 2000, the Spanish disabled basketball team was forced to return their gold medals after it was found that almost all players have no disability.

Spain has no laws against public nudity.

Prostitutes in Spain should wear glowing vests, like the rest of the workers on the roads, to avoid accidents.

The oldest lighthouse in the world is the Hercules Tower in Spain, built in the first century AD and still in operation.

There is a city in Spain where 700 people have the surname "Japon", because they are descendants of 17th century samurai who remained there as ambassadors of Japan.

There are two Roman dams in Spain that are still in use after 1,900 years.

In 1971, Evita Perron's body was exhumed and flown to Spain, where former Argentine President Juan Perón and his new wife kept the body in their dining room.

Spain was neutral in World War I and II, but experienced a civil war between 1936 and 1939 in which more than 500,000 people were killed.

Spain has two large enclaves, Sauta and Malilla, located in the African continent.

The Aztec emperor Mokatsuma II has a line of descendants who were brought to Spain and became part of the Spanish nobility, holding the title of "Duke Moktsuma de Toltango".

The US has more Spanish speakers than Spain.

Across Spain there are over 16,000 festivals that include cruelty to animals. About 60,000 animals die in them each year.

There is a direct descendant of Christopher Columbus who lives today. He is a Spanish nobleman.

Of all the countries celebrating Independence Day, 58 are celebrating liberation from Britain, 26 from France, 21 from Russia and 21 from Spain.

Spain was Europe's leading force during the 16th and most of the 17th centuries. Its strong position came from wealth in colonial assets and from being the leading naval force in the world.

Spain has a 47-story skyscraper that does not have an elevator.

Spanish flag

December 6 is also Miners' Day and Finland's Independence Day