Madrid! Dos de Mayo
- Charles Jordan
- May 2, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 15, 2024
In the US, many Americans view the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo as a reason to celebrate and maybe have a margarita cocktail or two. And we Americans sometimes think that maybe they eat the same foods, celebrate the same holidays, and so forth in Spain as they do in Mexico. Spanish is spoken in both countries due to the colonization of what is now Mexico by Spain hundreds of years ago. After that, the histories of the two countries diverged, and so did their cultures, when they celebrate and why. Dos de Mayo is a significant date in the history of Madrid and it's now a holiday there.
The brief history is that in 1807, France was under Napoleon's rule and the Iberian Peninsula was very attractive, especially Lisbon, Portugal for its strategic importance. So, French forces invaded Portugal in November of that year and then occupied Portugal. Spain had been an ally of France and the French forces had invaded Portugal via Spain. Then in February 1808, the French decided that Spain was also attractive. So they invaded Spain and eventually occupied Madrid. After weeks of unrest, there was a popular uprising in Madrid on May 2nd, which the French forces tried to suppress. Then on May 3rd, the rebels were rounded up by the French and publicly massacred, apparently on the Calle de Alcalá near La Puerta del Sol. The Dos de Mayo uprising was the first of many. But, Napoleon installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, as king of Spain and he reigned until 1813 when he was succeeded by Ferdinand VII.
Today, on the Dos de Mayo holiday, you can see reenactments of the massacre. Literally today on May 2, 2024, you can see the reenactment at 7PM in La Puerta del Sol and at 8:15PM at the Royal Palace.
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