National Day of Spain (Fiesta Nacional)
Photo: Marcelo Kunze / Unsplash
About
Spain's national day on 12 October — also the Fiesta del Pilar — marks the 1492 arrival of Columbus in the Americas. It is a national holiday, headlined by a large armed-forces parade in Madrid.
Highlights
- National holiday on 12 October
- Falls on a Monday in 2026, creating a long weekend
- Major military parade broadcast from Madrid
Practical tips
- The Monday long weekend makes for busy trains and hotels — book early.
- Shops and offices close; monuments mostly stay open.
- A pleasant time of year to visit Seville as the heat eases.
Other upcoming events
Granada International Festival of Music and Dance 2026
One of Europe's oldest classical-music festivals stages a month of concerts, ballet and recitals in the incomparable setting of the Alhambra's palaces and gardens, plus venues across Granada. The 75th edition runs from June into July.
Velá de Santiago y Santa Ana 2026 — Triana
Triana's beloved summer street fiesta honours the district's patroness, Santa Ana, with six days of riverside revelry on Calle Betis and Plaza del Altozano. Nightly concerts, stalls and the daring 'cucaña' — a greased pole jutting over the Guadalquivir — define this most quintessentially Sevillian of celebrations.
Assumption of Mary (Spain)
The Feast of the Assumption on 15 August is a national public holiday and one of the high points of the Spanish summer, with patron-saint ferias in many towns. In Seville it falls during the sweltering, quieter August low season.