The Legacy of July 25, 1654
On a significant date like today, but in 1654, the Dietary of the Generalitat documented for the first time the celebration of the festival dedicated to Santiago Apóstol. This record was made concisely, simply noting: “Dissabte, a XXV. Die de sanct Jaume”. This event took place in a highly relevant post-war context, after the War of Separation of Catalonia that lasted from 1640 to 1652, and a couple of years after Hispanic forces took control of Barcelona in 1652.
Previous Celebrations in Catalonia
Before this formalization, Saint James’s Day had been a cause for festivity in various Catalan towns, although it was not celebrated uniformly throughout the territory. This celebration was part of a festive calendar in the month of July, linked mostly to agriculture, which began on the 10th with Saint Christopher and continued until the 26th, with Saint Anne acting as the culmination.
The role of Cardinal Agostino Spinola
A quarter of a century earlier, in 1629, the influential Cardinal Agostino Spinola, who at that time was the metropolitan of Granada and shortly after Santiago, managed to get Pope Urban VII to designate Santiago the Apostle as patron saint of Spain. It is crucial to mention that Spinola, a key figure in Hispanic diplomacy, was a member of the Council of State and a descendant of Ambrosio Spinola, leader of the famous Hispanic Tercios in Flanders, whose fame was captured by the renowned painter Diego Velázquez in his work ‘The Surrender. of Breda’.
Consequences of the Hispanic Occupation
Once the Hispanic forces settled in the Principality in 1652, the chancellery decided to maintain the Catalan institutions, despite the demands for their elimination that the Count-Duke of Olivares had raised at the beginning of the conflict. However, the Hispanic government imposed a repressive regime on the Catalan ruling class, replacing it with individuals without political skills, but with a strong interest in consolidating Hispanic power. This strategy led to a series of movements that sought the Hispanization of the Catalan elites, along with the reduction of local cultural identity, where the figure of Santiago Apóstol, now patron of the Spains, played a fundamental role.