February 14: Valentine's Day “El día de los enamorados”

February 14 is always Valentine's Day.

On this day you can send a card to a secret love or give something nice, such as a present or flowers. But you can also send or give something to a friend or family member, because you are happy that you know each other. On this day, many red roses are given. The color red often stands for love.

After Pope Gelasius I proclaimed in 496 that February 14 would be the day of Saint Valentine, Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14. San Valentín, as the day is called in Spanish, is a day when lovers give each other extra attention, but nowadays it is actually more of a commercial day than a day of love. Nevertheless, the day has an extra meaning for many people.

Originally, Valentine's Day was the day when someone could anonymously declare their love to someone else by sending flowers, chocolate or presents without mentioning their name.

The recipient had to guess who the love gift came from, which made the day extra exciting.

Nowadays, certainly from a commercial point of view, the emphasis is more on the day that lovers give each other something to emphasize even more on “loving”. Especially in the United States, Valentine’s Day is quite commercially exploited, but countries like Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium are not inferior. Here too you can find small special gifts everywhere or flowers or … too many to mention actually.

History

Wikipedia states that there is no biographical information about Saint Valentine. In the eighteenth century it was suggested that Valentine's Day was set on February 14 to replace the old Lupercalia, a Roman (and perhaps even older) fertility festival.

Lupercalia was celebrated on February 15 (!) in honor of the fertility god Lupercus. For the Romans at the time, this was an important festival. The festival was most likely celebrated near the caves where Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were raised by wolves.

According to the story, the names of unmarried young women were thrown into a large bowl. Unmarried men were then allowed to draw a name in turn. During the festival, the two young people who were paired up were each other's partner. When Christianity emerged in Europe, this pagan festival was banned by the church and Lupercalia was replaced by Valentine's Day.

A commercial celebration

Valentine's Day used to be a day when you could send a card or flowers to your (secret) love. "From your Valentine" was written on the card. So it was very mysterious. But many people nowadays find Valentine's Day to be a far too commercial celebration. A celebration that is only meant for shops to make as much profit as possible. With gifts, flowers and cards. In some countries, such as the United States, this commercial point plays a major role. But in our country and other countries too, a lot of money is made with Valentine's Day. Of course it is nice to receive a small gift or a card from someone who loves you very much. But it is getting crazier and crazier.

Symbols of Valentine's Day

• a heart – the heart represents the feelings of people. You come across the heart in many proverbs.

• a rose – a red rose, the color of love and perfection. The ancient Greeks and Romans also honored their goddess of love with a rose: Aphrodite and Venus.

• Cupid – the Roman god of love who shot arrows at your heart. If your heart was hit, you fell in love instantly. The Greeks called him Eros.

• a dove – two people who love each other, two lovebirds. The goddess Venus (the goddess of love) is often depicted with a dove.

• a teddy bear – a soft friend that can keep you company on dark nights.

Valentine's Day in other countries

Valentine's Day is celebrated in many countries, but not in all countries and not everywhere in the same way. In many non-Western countries (such as in Africa) this holiday is not known. It is also celebrated on a different date in some countries.

>In Brazil, people celebrate Valentine's Day on June 12. This is because February 14 falls exactly during the Brazilian carnival. People have other things on their minds than giving away presents. June 12 is the day of death of Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of all couples in love.

>Valentine's Day is not celebrated in Germany. February 14 is an unlucky day there. It is the birthday of Judas, the betrayer of Jesus.

>In South Korea, women give chocolate to men on February 14. On March 14, men give sweets to women. Those who don't get anything go to a restaurant to mourn and eat black noodles.

>In Scotland, they celebrate Valentine's Day a bit like the ancient Romans did. They celebrated Lupercalia, a pagan festival. The names of all unmarried young women (girls) were thrown into a large bowl and then all young men who were not yet married were allowed to pick a name. After that you were a couple. They do this in Scotland too, only of course you are not married right away, but you do have a nice date during the party.

>Roses are very important in Taiwan. 1 rose says: “You are my one true love.” If a woman gets 99 roses, that means eternal love of the man for her. And if a man gives 100 roses to a girl, he wants to marry her.

>Sepandarmazgan is a day that is celebrated in Iran. On that day, men celebrate their love for their own wife, but also for their mother (a kind of Mother's Day). But (mother) earth is also honored on that day.

>In China, the Qixi festival is celebrated, the festival of lovers. That is on a different day every year, namely the seventh day in the seventh month of the Chinese calendar. According to legend, there was a weaving girl and a shepherd boy who were in love. It was a forbidden love and they lived on opposite sides of the silver river, which they could not easily cross. Every year on the seventh day of the seventh month, a large group of magpies formed a bridge so that the lovers could be together for one night.

Is Valentine's Day celebrated in Spain?

Although Valentine's Day is not a traditional Spanish holiday, in Spain, like in most countries, it is celebrated with all kinds of nice gifts in the form of hearts, bouquets of flowers, cards and romantic dinners in fancy restaurants.

In Spain, San Valentín was introduced more or less in the twentieth century with the idea of ​​​​stimulating the sales of gifts.

It is even said that in Spain, the El Corte Inglés chain of stores started introducing San Valentín in order to (successfully) boost sales.

All in all, February 14th is the day to show your love and declare your love once again.

Feliz San Valentín!