Italy and Italian-Americans, rather than the Spanish and Latin America in the U.S. The Fiesta de la Raza Española was declared the national holiday of Spain in a decree by Antonio Maura and king Alfonso XIII of 1918. The alternative name Día de la Hispanidad was proposed in the late 1920s by Ramiro de Maeztu, based on a suggestion by Zacarías de Vizcarra. After the Civil War, on 12 October 1939, the Día de la Raza was celebrated in Saragossa (Zaragoza), presided by Francisco Franco, with a special devotion to the Virgen del Pilar. Chilean foreign vice-secretary Germán Vergara Donoso commented that the "profound significance of the celebration was the intimate inter-penetration of the homage to the Race and the devotion to Our Lady of the Pillar, i.e. the symbol of the ever more extensive union between America and Spain." The name of Día de la Hispanidad was introduced as the official name of the national holiday in a decree of 9 January 1958. During the transition to democracy, there was a proposal to shift the national day to 6 December, the day of adoption of the Constitution, but in the end, in a decree of 1982, the day of 12 October was retained, under the name of Fiesta Nacional de España y Día de la Hispanidad. In 1987, the name was reduced to just Día de la Fiesta Nacional de España. Veneration of Our Lady of the Pillar around the world Pilar, short for Maria del Pilar, is a common Spanish given name, with name day on the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar. South America Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar and St. Raphael in Melo, Uruguay Nuestra Señora del Pilar, Recoleta neighbourhood, Buenos Aires, Argentina Nuestra Señora del Pilar, Pilar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina Cathedral of Our Lady of the Pillar, São João del-Rei, Brazil Philippines In the Philippines, ruled by Spain for over three hundred years, Our Lady of the Pillar is honored as the patroness of a number parishes and municipalities; seven are named Pilar in her honor. There are towns named Pilar in the provinces of Abra, Bataan, Bohol, Capiz, Cebu, Surigao del Norte and Sorsogon. As in Spain, her feast day is celebrated every 12 October. In Zamboanga City, the Virgin of the Pillar has been venerated for almost four centuries as the patroness of the city and in the Archdiocese