Today is a Bank Holiday - okay, a fiesta

Why? Because it is Día de la Hispanidad, which celebrates everything Spanish throughout the world (hence all the flags, with best wishes from Mafalda and her friends, one of South America's greatest cartoon characters). After Mandarin Chinese and English, Spanish is the third most-spoken language on the planet unless there are several billion people as yet undiscovered. Talking of discoveries, the 12 de Octubre, used to be a celebration of the 'discovery' of America. As we said last year, the aboriginal peoples of what came to be called America, would have been perfectly happy not to be discovered by the White Plague. Oh, it is also Our Lady of the Pillar (no kidding), the patron saint of the Guardia Civil, as well as of the lovely city of Zaragoza and other places we don't know. (Just noticed: the flag of Gibraltar is included amongt those of the Spanish-speaking countries ... interesting!) (Article recycled from last year on JimenaPulse - and another one below from 2009 and also from JimenaPulse)>>>

Monday, October 12th, 2009 is 'Hispanic Day' and a bank holiday throughout the country. No school, no offices, no banks, few shops (if any, open in the morning). The holiday used to be celebrated as the 'Discovery of America' until the natives thereof objected to being 'discovered', rightfully claiming they were there before Columbus. (See related JimenaPulse and Alexander Bewick items here.) (Question: Can anyone tell us which are the Hispanic countries represented by their flags?)