LOVE AND ROSES – AND BOOKS – ON DÍA DE LOS ENAMORADOS IN SPAIN
by Rose Maramba
They say Paris is the City of Love. Or, at least, a most romantic capital city.
The boating lake in Madrid’s Retiro Park makes for a romantic rendezvous
But have you ever paused and thought that in fact Europe’s most romantic city is Madrid for the simple reason that it is not riddled with fake romanticism?
Spaniards have this inbred distaste for commercialism. And Valentine’s Day, with its surfeit of commercial opportunism, is not the most important holiday on the calendar. That said, Spanish lovers accept Valentine’s Day as a day for romance and make special concessions.
The gallant chico won’t normally buy huge bouquets of roses for the chicas they love; ostentation could become embarrassing for the lovers. Often, a girl would get a single lovely rosebud from the boy who loves her. And this very simplicity makes the gesture doubly meaningful. More sincere. Uncorrupted by all sorts of “romantic” gifts in the garish display windows.
Spain has no quarrel with Valentine’s Day. It just won’t turn its celelebration into a three-ring circus.
February 14 is Día de San Valentín (Valentine’s Day), aka Día de los Enamorados (Day of the People in Love). Spain has no quarrel with that. But so far it has resisted making a three-ring-circus out of it. Extravagance is not a true measure of love.
Did you know? There’s a Valentine’s Day look-alike in Barcelona. It’s celebrated on the feast day of the city’s patron saint, Sant Jordi (St. George), on the 23rd of April. During the Sant Jordi festival, book fairs sprout around the city. The Catalan buys a book and a rose for the one he/she loves. The tradition of giving roses as a symbol of love on the day of Sant Jordi dates back to the 15th century. Much later, the Catalans’ day of love also became a day of literature.
During the Sant Jordi festival, a Valentine’s Day look-alike, a rose and a book are a declaration of love
It is not clear how the Catalans’ “Valentine’s Day”, symbolized by the rose, got paired off with books. But the 23rd of April is the death anniversary of Don Quixorte’s Miguel de Cervantes, coinciding with Sant Jordi’s feast day, and was subsequently declared Book Day. Maybe that’s the connection.
Madrid – and Barcelona, for that matter – is a place where you might yet find that Valentine’s Day is a simple day of and for simple romance, yet profound and passionate in its simplicity.
¡Feliz Día de los Enamorados!
———
Images
Featured image (Gudepost composition): Roses and books/Olga Volkovitskaia,Pixabay, edited.
Retiro Park/ Graeme Churchard, CC BY-2.0, Flickr.
“Spain has no quarrel with Valentine’s Day” (AI-generated image of lovers)/Kyraxys, Pixabay, edited.
Sant Jordi declaration of love (rose and book)/Jess Bailey Design, Pixabay, edited
