Saint Days in Spain are considered important days, for some people even more important than birthdays. I’m sure some of you won’t even know when your one is, or if you have one, so, here is why people celebrate them.
A Saint Day is the day that the Catholic church honours your name. Saints, or Santo in Spanish, is the day a person who lived their life with faith and virtue, who is now (according to your respective religion), in heaven with God.
Traditionally, a baby was named after the saint of the day they were born, hence why they were celebrated just as much as birthdays, as they were the same day. For example, San José is on the 19th March, so a baby born on that day would be called José. Before, a family would celebrate someone’s Saint Day more than their birthdays, even when these were separate days, with presents and treats. Nowadays, most people will just wish you a ‘Happy Saint’ ( Feliz Santo) and maybe give you a small gift.
Naturally, not all names have Saint days and some names have multiple! If your name doesn’t have a Saint, e.g, a more modern name like Luna, it could be celebrated on 1st November, The day of all the Saints (Día de todos los Santos).
Other names, like Juan or Carmen have a lot more than one Saint day. For example: San Juan Bautista, whose saint day is 24th June, and is one of the only saints which honours a birthday rather than a death day; San Juan Evangelista, San Juan de la Cruz… Although the most celebrated in San Juan Bautista.
Santo’s in Spain go beyond just a celebratory day. Cities and towns have patron Saints which are massively celebrated within the area: Madrid and Estepona Patron Saints are San Isidro, Barcelona is La Virgen de la Merced and Murcia is San Patricio.
So go and give your name a search and find out which day you can celebrate your name! We chatted about this topic on our recent show.
