May Day in Spain : socialist and anarchist traditions

Abstract

This chapter presents the brief overview of the history of May Day in Spain, including its more significant milestones, personalities and meanings. The differences between the events organized by the two groups clearly featured in the first celebration of May Day in Spain, in 1890 the differences also had a territorial dimension. At the stage, the celebration of May Day in Spain was following the patterns already at work in the rest of Europe, with regard to both its content and its form. Much like other Catholic countries, the socialist May Day in Spain was filled with religious symbols albeit symbols and metaphors instilled with a secular meaning. May Day 1978 was the first to be celebrated freely after nearly four decades of prohibition and repression. With the consolidation of democracy, May Day in Spain progressively assumed the same role that it played in most Western societies, and it reflected a less mobilized society.