Mother's Day

====Spain====
In Spain, Mother's Day or Día de la Madre is celebrated on the first Sunday of May. The weeks leading up to this Sunday, school children spend a few hours a day preparing a gift for their mothers, aided by their school teachers. In general, mothers receive gifts from their family members & this day is meant to be celebrated with the whole family. It is also said to be celebrated in May, as May is the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary (mother of Jesus) according to Catholicism. The idea of a month dedicated specifically to Mary can be traced back to baroque times. Although it wasn't always held during May, Mary Month included thirty daily spiritual exercises honoring Mary.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ncregister.com/blog/mfenelon/why-is-may-the-month-of-mary|title=Why is May the Month of Mary?|work=National Catholic Register|access-date=2 March 2018}}</ref>

In 1925 the Valencian poet [[Julio Menéndez García]] published a ''Hymn to Mother'' in a pamphlet in which he proposed the celebration of Mother's Day in all Spanish-speaking countries.<ref>''Diario de Valencia'', 25 September 1925</ref> The official declaration was never produced, but at that time the initiative was adopted at a local level on different dates; thus, for example, in Madrid, Mother's Day was celebrated on 4 October 1926.<ref>''La Opinión: diario independiente de la mañana'', 4 October 1926.</ref>

In 1939 the [[Frente de Juventudes|Youth Front]] of [[FET y de las JONS]] party, promoted the celebration of Mother's Day coinciding with the feast of the Immaculate Conception, on 8 December.

In the early 1960s, on the initiative of a chain of department stores ([[Galerías Preciados]]), which copied the custom established in Cuba, Mother's Day was also celebrated on the first Sunday of May ([[El Corte Inglés]], the great competitor of Galerías Preciados, celebrated the holiday in December). The two dates, May and December, coexisted until 1965 when the ecclesiastical authorities chose to celebrate the festival in May, within the month consecrated to the Virgin, to recover the authentic character of the Day of the Immaculate Conception.<ref>''Nueva Alcarria'', 5 December 1964.</ref>