Today, October 12, is celebrated in many Hispanic countries as "Día de la Raza" or "Día de la Hispanidad", although the name has changed in many of them. In USA is de "Columbus Say". In Spain it is also the National Day since 1987 (Law 18/1987).
Why this date? The preamble to the order states: "The chosen date, 12 October, symbolises the historical event on which Spain, on the verge of concluding a process of state-building based on our cultural and political plurality, and the integration of the kingdoms of Spain into a single monarchy, began a period of linguistic and cultural projection beyond European borders".
In short: That we arrived in America (12 October 1492).
But what is this integration of the kingdoms of Spain? In that year, in what is now peninsular Spain, there were four kingdoms: three Christian kingdoms, the Crown of Castile, the Kingdom of Navarre and the Crown of Aragon, and one Muslim kingdom, the Kingdom of Granada.
Castile and Aragon were united, although they remained independent, by the marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon (the famous Catholic Monarchs). That same year Castile annexed Granada and, in 1512, Aragon annexed Navarre.
The Canary Islands have been fully Castilian since 1496.
Ceuta was Portuguese from 1415, and when Spain annexed Portugal and its dominions - 16th century - Ceuta became Spanish. When Portugal secedes (1640) Ceuta remains Spanish.
Melilla has been Castilian since 1497.
The Balearic Islands have been Aragonese since the first third of the 13th century.
In 1516, with Charles I, grandson of the Catholic Monarchs, both Castile and Aragon were integrated into the same crown.
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