News: Mother's Day or Día de la Madre on May 5 in Spain

Spanish mothers will be pampered on Sunday 5 May (2019) on Mother's Day or Día de la Madre.

In Spain, Mother's Day is always celebrated on the first Sunday in May, something that differs from, for example, the Netherlands and Belgium where Mother's Day takes place on the second Sunday in May, except in Antwerp where it is celebrated on August 15.

Mother's Day is celebrated in honor of motherhood just like Father's Day (in Spain on March 19) in honor of fatherhood. In families celebrating Mother's Day, the day is all about pampering the mother. She usually receives breakfast in bed and presents and is exempted from household chores (a bit old-fashioned but still).

Tradition

The worship of mothers is a much older tradition than the modern Mother's Day and goes back to the mother cult in classical Greece. The formal mother cult with ceremonies for Cybele or Rhea, the Great Mother of the Gods, was practiced throughout Asia Minor on the Ides (15th day) of March. The Catholic Church has a long tradition of worshiping Mary, the mother of Jesus.

American party

The holiday in its current form has spread from the United States to the rest of the western world. In the Netherlands and Belgium the tradition started around 1925 and in Spain in 1965, although this day was never officially declared by the authorities in Spain and is only a popular and commercial day.

Worldwide

Mother's Day is celebrated all over the world and on the same day as Spain the inhabitants of Hungary, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania do the same. The first Mother's Day of the year takes place on the second Sunday in February in Norway followed by Mother's Day between January 30 and March 1 in Israel. There are also Mother's Days on March 3, March 8, fourth Sunday in Lent, March 21, March 25, April 7, first Sunday in May, May 8, and May 10.

Together with the Netherlands and Belgium (except Antwerp), the following countries also celebrate their Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May: Anguilla, Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia , Cuba, Curacao, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Ecuador, Estonia, Philippines, Finland, Ghana, Grenada, Greece, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Croatia, Latvia, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand , Austria, Pakistan, Peru, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Czech Republic, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela, United States, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Switzerland.

Antwerp differently

The American Mother's Day was not yet known when the Antwerp, liberal-thinking artist and ships Frans Van Kuyck introduced a Mother's Day in 1913 on August 15, the feast day of Maria (Onze Lieve Vrouwe Ascension), the patroness of the city since 1124. It was the day of the great Maria Procession. According to the Antwerp ships, the social order was thoroughly disrupted at the beginning of the century by the radical modernization. His remedy: to restore and cultivate the dignity of the family.

For this, according to Van Kuyck, everything had to be used to visualize the role of the mother in the family and society. A special day seemed like an ideal technique. Van Kuyck mobilized the local press and schools, published a scenario and set up a propaganda committee. The children and father had to surprise mother with decorations, special occasions, flowers, special sandwiches and even jewelry.

Father's Day 2019

Just like Mother's Day in Spain, Father's Day or Dia del Padre is different. Father's Day already took place on March 19 (2019), a day that coincides with Día de San José. However, this date is different from the Netherlands where Father's Day takes place on 16 June (2019) and in Belgium on 9 June (2019). Only the Antwerp region celebrates Father's Day with Spain on March 19. The term father's day also comes from the United States, where it was already introduced in 1909.