Nuestro Dia de San Valentín en España — Our Valentine’s Day in Spain
Photo by Victoriano Izquierdo
Our time in Spain has been magnificent and I have much more to write about those travels, but I am speeding ahead on this day, Valentine’s Day, to make a statement about how this holiday is celebrated in Spain.
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I’ve wanted to know if people in Spain even celebrated Valentine’s Day. I wasn’t sure if the day was only big in North America and not significant worldwide. Because in the States, several weeks before February 14th, we see billboards and signs all over storefront windows advertising the fact that businesses have something special for a loved one. Almost like at Christmas time. However, during our travels in Spain, as the day approached, I only saw one sign depicting the traditional symbol of the day: the heart. No other billboards were seen, no red ribbons tied to posts with dangling hearts, no signs on the sides of buses or in the train stations, nothing to note the promise of what was to come. Nothing, nada.
We spent the day before V-Day on a tour bus seeing the sights of the city, and passing many department and specialty stores, but the only heart I spotted that signified recognition of Valentine’s Day was in a candy store window. And, really, I wasn’t even certain that the heart signified Valentine’s Day coming up or if it was simply implying that the heart was a love for the chocolates they sold.
Looking online, I found that Spaniards do celebrate the holiday with gifts showing their love for each other and with a special dinner. However, at a popular romantic restaurant we’d discovered when we tried to make reservations thinking it would be the busiest on Valentine’s Day, we were shocked to learn that the restaurant was going to be closed. Huh? How can that be? I wondered, feeling very disappointed and stymied about them not catering to lovers.
Walking around, it seemed that people did indeed celebrate the holiday, as I’d not seen so many roses being carried and boxes of chocolates. But it was not because the retailers advertised like in the States. I wondered if that meant the retailers weren’t interested in making more money on this holiday, or if the country just didn’t exploit holidays like we do. Or if the display of love just wasn’t as open as it is in the States. In Spain, it certainly isn’t like Mexico, when it comes to displaying one’s affection.
Oh my God! A person cannot go to a city park, a zocalo, or a plaza where there are benches or private nooks without seeing couples pawing each other with passion. Even on city street corners or in doorways, young couples are kissing and fondling with frenzy. And then when I see a really young mother with a newborn baby walking with a young man looking trapped, I’m not surprised.
But we saw none of that kind of display in our travels. There have been girls hugging the guy they were with and trying to kiss him on the sly, but nothing like the Mexican couples who are open about their displays of affection.
Photo by Anastasia Zhenina
I love my husband, and I don’t mind showing it when we are in a public place with a hug, holding hands, and a stolen kiss, but I do not feel comfortable going beyond those personal moments as we see often in Mexico. And so, I feel happier with the quiet reminders the Spaniards seen to exhibit, like we, of just being together adding a look with a smile, a nudge, or a stolen kiss. And I’m happy without the in-your-face reminders that there is a holiday where we must show the other just how much we love them by the retailer’s come-ons to buy or not be loved.
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Note that this story was written by a woman who was kicked out of a bar once for over-groping. Happy Valentine’s!
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Read the next story in this story series by clicking here: Fashion and Fads in Barcelona and España
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Read Parts 1, 2, and 3 of this story series by clicking one of the links below:
Part 1 - España — My First Trip Away from North American Soil