¡Feliz San Valentín!

So I’m going to take a break this week from the idioms, and instead talk about Valentine’s Day in Spanish-speaking countries.

In the US, couples celebrate Valentine’s Day. It’s about love, being together, holding hands, kissing, and all that jazz. There’s chocolate, flowers, love letters, poems, teddy bears, and more. All over the world, there are similar days, with some differences.

Spain: Valentine’s day, February 14th, is celebrated in the same way as we celebrate it here. However, they also celebrate “El día del libro y la rosa,” or The Day of the Rose and Book on April 23rd. On this day, as the title hints, the men give the ladies a rose (or two or three), and the ladies give the men a book in return.

South America: In South America, they celebrate “El día del amor y la amistad” or, Love and Friendship Day. This special day isn’t just for lovers, but for friends too! Instead of focusing on couples and leaving the singles out, friends exchange cards and gifts, and often go out to dinner or lunch together to celebrate. It reminds me of elementary school, when we all made valentines for every person in our class, and all of our friends. I’d say we definitely celebrated friendship.

Colombia: In addition to Love and Friendship Day, Colombia celebrates Valentine’s Day on September 20th, where a lot of the focus is on secret admirers, instead of known significant others. Interesting, huh? I don’t know if that’s fun or creepy.

Venezuela: Specifically this year in Venezuala, Valentine’s Day has been postponed. There is voter referendum coming up, and it was decided Valentine’s day would be too distracting. However, the good news is that because of the postponement, Valentine’s Day will be celebrated for an entire week, starting on February 16th!

So, there’s a day out there for everyone. Don’t have a date? Celebrate the Day of Friendship! Busy on Thursday? Celebrate for a whole week starting Saturday! Secretly admiring someone from afar? You’ll have to wait for September, but there’s a day for that too! Or, you could be boring, and spend Valentine’s Day like an American. Good luck!  🙂

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3 Responses to ¡Feliz San Valentín!

  1. Keep up the good piece of work, I read few articles on this website and I conceive that your web blog is very interesting and contains bands of excellent information.

  2. ayp5187 says:

    This is really interesting! I love the idea of having a day of friendship. That’s what Valentines Day should really be about.

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