9 d'Octubre ( English: October 9) is a celebration in the Valencian Community. It commemorates the conquest of the city of ''Balansiyya'' by the troops of James I of Aragon and the creation of the

Kingdom of Valencia Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

1238 Year 1238 ( MCCXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Mongol Empire * January 15– 20 – Siege of Moscow: The Mongols under Batu Khan a ...

Background

The celebration was created by James II of Aragon in the

XIV century As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was a century lasting from 1 January 1301 (Roman numerals, MCCCI), to 31 December 1400 (Roman numerals, MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 milli ...

, mainly inside of the

city of Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area als ...

. Due its antiguity and popular tradition, the date was considered as the Valencian National Day by the Board of Sindical and Political Forces of the Land of Valencia in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, and by the

Plenary of Members of Parliament of Valencia The Plenary of members of Parliament of the Valencian Country (in Valencian: ''Plenari de Parlamentaris del País Valencià'') was the body formed and made up of the 41 Deputies to Congress and Senators elected in the first elections held in 19 ...

in 1977. Finally, with the creation of the Valencian Community in 1982, it was made a Public holiday as the Valencian Community Day and is celebrated in the entire Valencian Community. It consists on many activities, being the most representative the Civic procession held in Valencia since 1338, when it was instituted by

Peter IV of Aragon Peter IV, ; an, Pero, ; es, Pedro, . In Catalan, he may also be nicknamed ''el del punyalet'': "he of the little dagger". (Catalan: ''Pere IV''; 5 September 1319 – 6 January 1387), called the Ceremonious (Catalan: ''el Cerimoniós''), w ...

to celebrate the centenary of the

, and to demand protection to Saint Denis in the middle of a

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

caused by poor rains. October 9 is also the Lover's Day in the Valencian Community, and it's a tradition to give frutta martorana as a present to a beloved person. This tradition is known as Mocadorà, being ''Mocador'' the Valencian word for handkerchief, where the

marzipan Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzi ...

fruits are held.

References

{{Reflist History of the Valencian Community Valencia National days October observances Public holidays in Spain Autumn events in Spain