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Oct 12 2015

Celebration of the Spanish National Day

On the 12th October 2015, in the garden of the Officers’ Club of Ugo Mara Barracks in Solbiate Olona, the Spanish National Day celebration took place. Col. Pedro Martinez Molina, the Spanish Senior National Representative (SNR), welcomed the Commander of NATO Rapid Deployable Corps Italy (NRDC-ITA), Lt. Gen. Riccardo Marchiò and all the other guests from the 12 NATO nations that contribute to NRDC-ITA. He took the opportunity to express his deepest condolences to the people of Turkey that had suffered in the recent terrific terrorist attacks there. In his speech, the Spanish SNR explained why the Spanish National Day is celebrated on the 12 of October due to the recurrence of three important events in Spanish history: The discovery of the New Word by Christopher Columbus, the union of the two Spanish Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon and the conquest of Granada from the Arab domination, and finally the publishing of the Castellan grammar by Antonio de Nebrija. These three events paved the way for a magnificent period of Spanish History, with expansion of Spanish culture all over the world - and making Spanish a Language spoken by more than 450 million people nowadays. Lt. Gen. Riccardo Marchiò reminded how it is unusual for a country to celebrate their National Day on the basis of an event that occurred far from their territory, such as the discovery of America for Spain. He noted that we should be grateful to Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon for having permitted Columbus to sail across the Atlantic Ocean and to discover the new world, changing history forever. The significance of the new world is even more important for a NATO Headquarters like NRDC-ITA, in which multi-nationality is a value and a strength with which we are able to take advantage of each day. The celebrations were simple and pleasant. This was partly due to the mild weather that, as Col. Molina said, was specifically booked for the event.

Story by NRDC Public Affairs Office

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