Spain’s King Felipe presided over a military parade marking the country’s national day during which more than 3,000 soldiers marched through central
Spain’s King Felipe presided over a military parade marking the country’s national day during which more than 3,000 soldiers marched through central Madrid.
The holiday commemorates Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the new world and is also Spain’s armed forces day.
Aircraft from the Spanish military performed a fly-past leaving trails of red and yellow smoke representing the Spanish flag.
The Mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena (Ahora Madrid), was present at the very front of today's October 12 parade: pic.twitter.com/JjnckvqRSN
— The Spain Report (@thespainreport) October 12, 2015
The country’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in a newspaper article said he was proud to feel a “Hispanic in Europe.”
Rajoy remembered Latin American immigrants who he said “gave their lives defending freedom and our common values” in the Spanish army. He said that Spain does not forget its “heroes” including many who came from Latin American countries.