What Labor Day Means in Spain
Labor Day in Spain is known as Día del Trabajador or Primero de Mayo (the First of May). It is a national holiday dedicated to workers and their rights, and since it was re-legalized and re-instated as a national holiday in 1978, every Primero de Mayo has been marked by protests and manifestations all over the country, in which social advances are celebrated and workers' rights are revindicated.
The date shares its origin with International Workers' Day, which was declared by the Socialist Workers Congress of the Second International at a conference held in Paris in 1889.
Origins: Chicago, Paris, and Spain's First May Day
The date for Spain's Primero de Mayo has the same origin as International Workers' Day: the Haymarket affair in Chicago in 1886. Workers across the United States had been asking for an eight-hour work day since April and threatened a strike to begin on May 1 if employers did not compromise. In Chicago, the strike lasted an extra three days and on May 4 turned into a violent clash between protestors and police. A bomb that killed several policemen led to the imprisonment of over 30 people and the assassination of five accused civilians, prompting serious discussion of workers' rights by governments around the world. In 1889, May 1 was declared International Workers' Day by the Socialist Workers Congress of the Second International at a conference in Paris.
That same year, Spain celebrated its very first Día del Trabajador, adopted through two different routes by the Spanish labor movement: socialists throwing a "labor party" in an attempt to support that sector of the population while avoiding violence, and anarchists calling a revolutionary strike.
For that first celebration, socialists worried there would not be enough participation on May 1 and planned to organize their manifestation on Sunday, May 4 instead. Their concern proved unnecessary, since the working class was already organizing itself for manifestations on May 1 after hearing about the Paris conference decision. The anarchists also planned their protests for May 1, as that had been decided as International Workers' Day.
Two different manifestations occurred in Madrid that day, socialist and anarchist, taking different routes. The socialists organized thousands of workers, who after a public meeting marched to the Council of Ministers to deliver their revindications, then dissolved into smaller protests. The anarchists also held public meetings before marching to deliver their revindications to the president of the Congress of Deputies.
The manifestations in Madrid did not involve any notable conflict, but other places in the country saw violence. Socialists in the Basque Country had organized a series of acts for the first few days of May, which caused the layoff of many of the main leaders of the protests; this led many workers to strike, producing a general strike in the area. With more protests and violence, a state of war was declared in the Basque Country, and tensions did not start dying down until May 21. The socialists ended up obtaining a shorter work day, though another of their goals, the suppression of canteens and barracks, would have to wait until the next year. Anarchist presence in Valencia, Barcelona, Catalonia, and many other places also caused strikes and violence, causing owners to close factories and attracting Civil Guard intervention, but victory was not as clear there as it was for the socialist party.
Spain's first Día del Trabajador showed undeniable success: even though specific gains were not seen everywhere, both the government and individual bosses became conscious of the fact that the working class needed attention. The violence, however, caused the Spanish government to prohibit public manifestations, which meant that Primero de Mayo in 1890 was much less exciting and mobilizing than the year before. Respecting the law, socialists limited their day to a break from work and private celebration, while the anarchists maintained their one-day strike. The following year it was declared that May 1 would be an international manifestation day, and in order to participate both groups had to rethink their celebrations. With the intention of participating without breaking the law, the socialists decided to focus on fighting for labor laws and rights in celebrations that did not mention social revolutions, reiterating the importance of pacifism. Faced with the inability to protest and seek a revolution, anarchists from then on lost interest in participating in Primero de Mayo.
Becoming an Official Holiday
Although el Día del Trabajador originated in 1889 in Spain, it was not declared an official holiday until 1931, with the beginning of the Second Republic. Largo Caballero, then Spain's Minister of Labor, proposed that the date be made an official holiday, and within weeks of the Second Republic's proclamation the proposal was accepted. Upon acceptance, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Madrid led by the "Republic" (represented by a girl dressed as such), ending where then president Niceto Alcalá-Zamora celebrated "the end of social antagonism." With this declaration, the complaints and requests of workers from all over the country would go directly to the government, allowing a new "wave" of public power.
Labor Day Under Franco
In the middle of the Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936 to 1939, Franco abolished the holiday of Primero de Mayo with a decree on April 12, 1937, which also stated that a new holiday dedicated to "Trabajo Nacional," or National Labor, would later be declared. In March 1938 the "Fuero del Trabajo," or Code of Labor, was published, establishing that Spain would now celebrate a "Fiesta de la Exaltación del Trabajo," or Labor Praising Party, to be held on July 18, his birthday. Since the Republican zone was in no condition to hold real protests mid-war, for the next several years only small, secret acts (mostly in theaters) were held to celebrate the working class's fight against Franco's army.
After the war ended, the labor organizations that had kept some secret activity during the war began to reconvene and organize new protests to fight for the return of the celebrations of Primero de Mayo. A notable protest was that of 1947 in Biscay, which brought to light the problems faced by the population with high living costs and low salaries due to the war. None of the protests would bring any significant improvements to the working class any time soon, as most of them were shut down by Franco.
Almost 20 years after Franco put an end to Primero de Mayo, the Catholic Church intervened. In 1955, Pope Pius XII decided to designate May 1 as Fiesta de San José Artesano, also known as San José Obrero, and Franco incorporated the holiday into the next year. Beginning in 1956, the manifestations in favor of workers' rights were replaced by masses in churches all over the country in honor of who would become the patron saint of workers. Starting in 1957, Spain's Union Organization of Education and Rest began organizing a "union demonstration," a sort of art exhibition where groups of workers would play sports and perform dances for the caudillo in the Chamartín stadium. The objective was to promote athletic and artistic activities outside of work and to help keep the workers "sane," but it did not last long.
In the 1960s, the reactivation of the labor movement Comisiones Obreras brought on a new protest "tradition" involving May 1. Instead of large manifestations on the 1st itself, the protest was expressed through extra breaks, boycotts of public transportation, and moments of silence in factories on April 30. Additionally, on May 1 itself, small gatherings in front of the vertical union were held. The Francoist State's reaction was first to detain and suspend those caught involved in any act of protest, but after a few years of increased support, the reaction became preventative: anyone with a record of being involved in such demonstrations was detained prior to April 30 and kept until the end of any protests. This lessened participation over the years, so these too failed to bring improvement to workers.
Outside of Spain, refugees of the war and those exiled by Franco continued to celebrate Primero de Mayo, which allowed them to denounce the Spanish State. A notable major Primero de Mayo organization outside of Spain was in 1954 in Marseille, France, organized by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in protest of Franco's regime. It was also common for exiled Spaniards to incorporate themselves into labor manifestations where they were, holding their own banners in protests in countries such as Mexico and France.
How Spain Marks the Day Today
After four decades of being prohibited, the celebration was re-legalized and re-instated as a national holiday in 1978. Since then, every Primero de Mayo has been marked by protests and manifestations all over the country, in which social advances are celebrated and workers' rights are revindicated. These demonstrations are the central civic observance of the day.
Beyond the modern demonstrations, the historical record shows the range of ways the date has been observed in Spain:
- Public meetings followed by marches to deliver workers' revindications to government bodies, as in Madrid's first Primero de Mayo.
- Strikes, including one-day strikes and general strikes, as seen in the Basque Country and in anarchist-influenced areas such as Valencia, Barcelona, and Catalonia.
- Private celebration and a break from work, the approach socialists took in 1890 when public manifestations were prohibited.
- Religious observance: from 1956, masses in churches all over the country in honor of San José Obrero, the patron saint of workers.
- State-sponsored festivities under Franco, including the "Fiesta de la Exaltación del Trabajo" held on July 18 and the "union demonstration" at the Chamartín stadium featuring sports and dances.
- Low-key protest tactics in the 1960s, such as extra breaks, boycotts of public transportation, and moments of silence in factories on April 30, along with small gatherings in front of the vertical union on May 1.
Regional Variations
The sources describe several regional differences in how the day has been observed. In the Basque Country, socialists organized a series of acts for the first few days of May during the first Primero de Mayo, and the resulting layoffs of protest leaders helped trigger a general strike and a state of war in the area. Anarchist presence was particularly strong in Valencia, Barcelona, and Catalonia, where strikes and violence led owners to close factories and drew Civil Guard intervention. In Biscay, a notable protest in 1947 highlighted the high living costs and low salaries the population faced after the war. Madrid hosted the first two distinct manifestations—socialist and anarchist—on separate routes, and in 1931 an estimated 300,000 people marched there when the holiday became official.
Food, Drink, and Festivities
What it documents instead is a day defined primarily by civic action—protests, manifestations, strikes, and, in certain periods, religious masses and state-organized events—rather than by a distinctive culinary or festive tradition.