The 2023 work calendar has several dates marked in red. And this month is Sunday March 19, San José, Father’s Day in Spain and many other countries. A family day in which children usually pay homage to their parents by giving away handicrafts or other details, while the Church commemorates the figure of the father of Jesus.
However, that day is not a holiday in all of Spain. And it is that the date of San José is not part of the eight national holidays, but is considered “substitutable”, that is, that each territory decides whether to choose or not. In fact, this year it will only be a holiday in the Community of Madrid, which moves the date to Monday, March 20, since the 19th is Sunday.
It is striking that it is not a holiday in the Valencian Community, whose capital celebrates the Fallas 2023 that week with the day of San José, patron saint, marking the end of the festivities with the Cremà. The fact that the 19th falls on a Sunday and that the Valencians have up to four consecutive Mondays in April justify this circumstance.
Not all countries celebrate Father’s Day on March 19. In fact, most territories honor their parents on the third Sunday in June, while other nations choose other dates on the calendar. Let’s see some examples:
Some countries that celebrate Father’s Day on March 19:
Some countries that celebrate Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June (June 18, 2023):
Some countries that celebrate Father’s Day on the first day of summer:
Countries that celebrate Father’s Day on the second Sunday of November:
It is said that the origin of Father’s Day is located in the United States, thanks to the fact that a woman named Sonora Smart Dood considered that fathers deserved a special date, an idea that came to her in 1909 while listening to a sermon in church about the Day. of the mother. A year later, she presented a petition to the Spokane Ministerial Alliance (a city in the state of Washington where she lived) that was successful. On the third Sunday of June 1910 (the 19th) the first Father’s Day was celebrated.
The first official declaration came in 1924, when US President Calvin Coolidge recognized the celebration of Father’s Day. Subsequently, in 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson established that it would take place every third Sunday in June, while in 1972, Nixon signed it into law.
Spain also has a woman as a precursor of Father’s Day. This is Manuela Vicente Ferrero, better known as Nely, a teacher at the Santo Ángel school in the Madrid neighborhood of Vallecas. In 1948, she celebrated the first tribute to her parents by her children at her school. The date chosen was March 19, the day of Saint Joseph, the father of Jesus.
Little by little, Nely’s project spread, but the definitive impulse for Father’s Day to spread throughout Spain was given in 1953 by Pepín Fernández, the managing director of Galerías Preciados. The businessman carried out an ambitious advertising campaign to generate more sales that day. El Corte Inglés would soon join the initiative.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
