Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

HOLIDAY

IN PICTURES: Spain’s National Day

October 12th is Spain’s National Day - el Día de la Hispanidad. See the best pictures from the parade in Madrid with all its military pomp, controversy and…goats.

Published: 12 October 2022 16:17 CEST
IN PICTURES: Spain's National Day
A paratrooper flies with a Spanish flag during the military parade on Spain’s National Day. Photo: OSCAR DEL POZO CANAS/AFP

October 12th is Spain’s ‘National Day’, known as el Día de la Hispanidad. Though somewhat controversial as its origins lay in celebrations of Christopher Columbus and Spanish imperialism, El Día de la Hispanidad has evolved over the years into a day of jolly jingoism and patriot parades.

READ ALSO: How Spain celebrates its National Day (and why not everyone is happy about it)

The biggest event on National Day in Spain is a massive military parade along Madrid’s Paseo de la Castellana – it is also Armed Forces Day.

The army, navy, air force, Guardia Civil and even the Spanish Legionnaires – who even bring with them their goat mascot –  come out in force to march along the capital’s grandest thoroughfare.

King Felipe VI, who is head of the armed forces, attends with Queen Letizia and their daughters, as well as the Prime Minister, and other leading politicians.

This year’s parade wasn’t without controversy, however, as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez reportedly left the King waiting during the parade, and was then roundly booed and showered with shouts of ‘resign’ and ‘resignation’.

Not ideal for the Prime Minister on Spain’s national day, but the culmination of the event is always a fly-by from the Spanish Air Force acrobatics team, the Patrulla Águila.

We’ve collected some of the best pictures from the parade to give you a sense of what Spain’s Día de la Hispanidad is really like.

Horsemen of the Spanish Guardia Civil honour guard troops march. Photo: OSCAR DEL POZO CANAS/AFP
 
October 12th is very military-focused day, with the Spanish Legion, Army, Navy, Guardia Civil and Air Force all taking part in the parade. Often military families, or those supportive of the military or police force, take to the streets to watch the parade, and events also take place in Málaga, Huelva and Zaragoza. 
 

A paratrooper flies with a Spanish flag. Photo: OSCAR DEL POZO CANAS/AFP
 
 

(From L) Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, King Felipe VI of Spain, Princess Sofia of Spain and Queen Letizia of Spain. Photo: OSCAR DEL POZO CANAS/AFP
 
National Day is always attended by Spain’s political bigwigs and Royal Family. This year’s parade was not without political undertones, however, as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez firstly kept the King waiting at the Plaza de Lima, breaking protocol, and was then welcomed with whistles, boos and shouts of ‘resign’ from spectators.
 
2022’s parade was also notable for its lack of a representative from the Spanish judiciary, notably the absence of Carlos Lesmes, who on Sunday announced his resignation as president of the General Council of the Judiciary.
 
 

The Spanish Legion’s goat takes part in the parade. Photo: OSCAR DEL POZO CANAS/AFP
 
As always, for many one of the highlights of the day was the Spanish Legion’s goat mascot.
 

Members of Spain’s Legion. Photo: OSCAR DEL POZO CANAS/AFP
 
4,000 soldiers marched along the Paseo de la Castellana as part of the event, with 150 vehicles and 86 aircraft.
 
 

Photo: OSCAR DEL POZO CANAS/AFP
 

The Spanish Air Force’s aerobatic demonstration team Patrulla Aguila. Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO CANAS/AFP
 
As is customary, the finale of the day’s proceedings was a fly-by from the Spanish Air Force acrobatics team, the Patrulla Águila, who release a stream of crimson and gold smoke to replicate Spain’s national flag across the sky.
 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

HEALTH

EXPLAINED: Spain’s plan to stop the privatisation of public healthcare

Spain’s Health Ministry has announced a new plan aimed at protecting the country's much-loved public healthcare system from its increasing privatisation.

Published: 15 May 2024 16:34 CEST
EXPLAINED: Spain's plan to stop the privatisation of public healthcare

In 1997, at the time when former Popular Party leader José María Aznar was Prime Minister of Spain, a law was introduced allowing public health – la sanidad pública in Spanish – to be managed privately.

According to the Health Ministry, this opened the door to a model that has caused “undesirable” consequences in the healthcare system for the past 25 years.

Critics of the privatisation of Spain’s public healthcare argue that it leads to worse quality care for patients, more avoidable deaths, diminished rights for health staff and an overall attitude of putting profits before people, negative consequences that have occurred in the UK since the increased privatisation of the NHS, a 2022 study found. 

Companies such as Grupo Quirón, Hospiten, HM Hospitales, Ribera Salud and Vithas Sanidad have made millions if not billions by winning government tenders that outsourced healthcare to them.

On May 13th 2024, Spanish Health Minister Mónica García took the first steps to try and rectify this by approving a new law on public management and integrity of the National Health System, which was published for public consultation.

The document sets out the ministry’s intentions to limit “the management of public health services by private for-profit entities” and facilitate “the reversal” of the privatisations that are underway.

It also aims to improve the “transparency, auditing and accountability” in the system that already exists.

The Ministry believes that this model “has not led to an improvement in the health of the population, but rather to the obscene profits of some companies”. 

For this reason, the left-wing Sumar politician wants to “shelve the 1997 law” and “put a stop to the incessant profit” private companies are making from the public health system. 

The Federation of Associations in Defence of Public Health welcomed the news, although they remained sceptical about the way in which the measures would be carried out and how successful they would be.

According to its president, Marciano Sánchez-Bayle, they had already been disappointed with the health law from the previous Ministry under Carolina Darias.

President of the Health Economics Association Anna García-Altés explained: “It is complex to make certain changes to a law. The situation differs quite a bit depending on the region.” She warned, however, that the law change could get quite “messy”.

The Institute for the Development and Integration of Health (IDIS), which brings together private sector companies, had several reservations about the new plan arguing that it would cause “problems for accessibility and care for users of the National Health System who already endure obscene waiting times”.

READ MORE: Waiting lists in Spanish healthcare system hit record levels

“Limiting public-private collaboration in healthcare for ideological reasons, would only generate an increase in health problems for patients,” they concluded.

The way the current model works is that the government pays private healthcare for the referral of surgeries, tests and consultations with specialists. Of the 438 private hospitals operating in Spain, there are more who negotiate with the public system than those that do not (172 compared with 162).

On average, one out of every ten euros of public health spending goes to the private sector, according to the latest data available for 2022. This amount has grown by 17 percent since 2018.

However, the situation is different in different regions across Spain. In Catalonia for example, this figure now exceeds 22 percent, while in Madrid, it’s just 12 percent, according to the Private Health Sector Observatory 2024 published by IDIS.

Between 2021 and 2022, Madrid was the region that increased spending on private healthcare the most (0.7 percent), coinciding with the governance of right-wing leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso, followed by Andalusia (0.6 percent).  

READ MORE: Mass protest demands better healthcare in Madrid

Two years ago, Andalusia signed a new agreement with a chain of private clinics that would help out the public system over the next five years.

SHOW COMMENTS