For yet another year, the Spanish state continues to celebrate the greatest genocide in history. 12 October, ‘Hispanic Day’, marks the date on which Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492. A date which, for some, represents the beginning of the Spanish empire and, for others, the start of a bloody colonisation of the American continent.
The deaths of 80 million Native Americans (90 per cent of the total indigenous population, according to estimates) and the attempt to annihilate entire civilisations hardly seem cause for celebration, yet in Spain this day remains one of national jubilation, complete with military parades and patriotic symbols everywhere. Today, in some countries of Abya Yala, the imposed ‘Día de la Raza’ is still celebrated, although, increasingly, the way is being paved for it to be reclaimed as ‘Indigenous Resistance Day’.
The dominant narrative of the ‘discovery of the Americas’ fails to conceal the history of abuses, systematic massacres and the plundering of wealth across Abya Yala by the Spanish over the centuries – a plundering that continues to this day at the hands of Spanish companies such as Repsol, Telefónica, BBVA and Banco Santander. The Spanish state has turned a deaf ear to demands for reparations from countries such as Mexico and Venezuela, and the celebrations on this day do nothing but undermine the dignity of the peoples in resistance across the American continent.
Various indigenous and decolonial organisations have signed a manifesto demanding reparations and the repeal of the Spanish state’s racist laws, stating that “To this day, the use of military force, artificial borders, seas turned into graveyards, and structural and everyday racist violence are the continuation of the Colonial Order”.
In several cities across Spain, events and demonstrations took place today to counter this ‘national holiday’. Abya Yala resists!
References
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“Día de la Resistencia Indígena, por la defensa de las identidades culturales”. Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos México. https://www.cndh.org.mx/sites/default/files/documentos/2025-10/FRI_OCT_12.pdf
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Williams, Charlotte. 2023. “Estimación de la pérdida de población y secuelas de la colonización”. Despojos en las Américas. https://dia.upenn.edu/es/content/WilliamsC004/
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Paola Rubio. 2026. “La Asamblea Descolonicémonos convoca un año más una marcha en Madrid contra la celebración del 12 de Octubre”. Diario Red. https://www.diario-red.com/articulo/espana/asamblea-descolonicemonos-convoca/20261011172930078145.html
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Neo-colonialismo petrolero en la Selva Ecuatoriana. Impactos socioambientales de 24 años de actividad extractiva de la empresa Repsol en el Parque Nacional Yasuní. Informe de Medicus Mundi. https://www.medicusmundi.es/storage/resources/publications/673af4bdd51ff_medicus-mundi-yasuni-cas-def.pdf
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Ana Karen Celaya G. 2025. España ya quiere “normalizar” las relaciones con México pese a “claroscursos” entre ambos países, asegura el presidente Pedro Sánchez. El Imparcial. https://www.elimparcial.com/mundo/2025/11/09/espana-ya-quiere-normalizar-las-relaciones-con-mexico-pese-a-claroscursos-entre-ambos-paises-asegura-el-presidente-pedro-sanchez/
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Venezuela reclamará a España reparaciones por saqueo durante el colonialismo. 2024. TeleSurTV. https://www.telesurtv.net/venezuela-reclamara-a-espana-reparaciones-por-saqueo-durante-el-colonialismo/
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Descolonicémonos. Rebeldía y Sanación contra siglos de opresión. Manifiesto 2026. Asamblea Descolonicémonos 12 de octubre nada que celebrar. https://www.instagram.com/p/DeSD2nHiI0B/
