What Is La Puríssima, and Why Is It a Holiday in Spain?

The winter holiday season kicks off in Spain in early December with two national holidays falling only a day apart: Dia de la Constitució (Spanish Constitution Day) on December 6th and La Immaculada Concepció (also known as La Puríssima) on December 8th. While you’re not likely to see city-wide festivals or grand parties in celebration of either, these days are eagerly anticipated by many for the opportunity to plan a long, much-needed weekend getaway.

Constitution Day is self explanatory, but if you ask just about anyone what La Puríssima is and why it’s a holiday, you’ll quickly learn that many people aren’t really sure. So, what is it and why is it a public holiday in Spain?

What It Isn’t

It’s not about the Virgin Birth of Christ. Many often incorrectly assume that La Immaculada Concepció (Immaculate Conception) refers to the virginal conception of Christ in Mary's womb. It doesn’t. That’s a different feast day: the Feast of the Annunciation, which falls on March 25th. That’s the day the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God. If you think about it, it makes sense, because March 25th is exactly nine months before the birth of Christ.

La Puríssima is actually a dogma of the Catholic Church which asserts that Christ’s mother, Mary, was herself conceived free of original sin in her own mother’s womb. This long-standing and controversial, uniquely Catholic belief declares that Mary was conceived llena de gracia—in a state of sanctifying grace and free of all original sin from the moment of her conception until the moment of her death.

The Controversy

First celebrated in the East quite possibly as early as the fifth century, the "Feast of the Conception of the Most Holy and All Pure Mother of God" focused on Saint Anne (Mary’s mother) and was widely celebrated by the ninth century in the Eastern Christian Church. As early as the eighth century it had already begun to spread through the West.

While the belief that Mary was free of personal sin was accepted throughout the church, the idea that she was free of original sin became a topic of debate. Celebrating the feast of her conception had become quite popular in the West by the 11th century, from which arose concerns that because Mary had been conceived through sexual intercourse, she had been conceived in sin and therefore, to celebrate her conception was to celebrate sin. The subject prompted widespread debate within Catholicism—questions arose surrounding the theological possibility of Mary being free from the original sin of Adam and Eve, unless she too were conceived in the same way as her son. 

Saint Tomas Aquinas took particular issue with this idea, claiming human animation (fusion of body and soul) to occur after conception—thus, if sin can only be taken away by grace, and grace can only exist in a rational creature, Mary would have needed a rational soul before she could be sanctified. Hence, her “grace” could not have been granted at conception. Likewise, in his letter to the Canons of Lyons, Bernard of Clairvaux reasoned that it made little sense for Mary to be conceived free from sin, since Christ could not hold status as the universal savior unless it were he alone who held the privilege of conception free from original sin. 

While no clear decision was made, the topic was formally addressed in 1431 at the Council of Basel, which declared that the idea of Mary's Immaculate Conception was a "pious opinion" that was consistent with the scripture. Later, the Council of Trent skirted the topic, effectively exempting Mary from original sin but did not go so far as to address the theological implications.

Why December 8th?

The history of this date is two-fold; not only does it mark the presumed date of Mary’s conception, exactly nine months before her birth (the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) on September 8, but it is also an important date in Spanish history.

On December 7, 1585 Spanish troops fighting in the Eighty Years’ War in Northern Dutch territory found themselves low on supplies, outnumbered and flanked by enemy forces, the Meuse and Waal Rivers and flooding terrain. Cold, wet, hungry, without shelter and facing what seemed insurmountable obstacles, they retreated to the highest point near the town of Emple—the situation was desperate. According to legend, it was then that a Spanish soldier digging a trench near a church discovered a painting with the image Mary of the Immaculate Conception. Seeing it as a sign from God, they prayed for a miracle. The following morning, a cold wind froze the Meuse River allowing the Spanish to cross the river and attack their enemy, taking many prisoners and burning all the ships in the enemy’s fleet. The date was December 8, 1585, and it was a resounding victory for Spain. 

Sources claim that Dutch leader Admiral Holak was heard to declare that “it seems that God is Spanish, to work so great a miracle.” This series of events came to be known as “the miracle of Empel” with all gratitude given to the protection of the gracious Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception. 

The Patron Saint of Spain

Spain had long championed the idea of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, and the victory at the Battle of Empel further enhanced her status and glory in Spanish culture; for many, such a concise military victory in the face of all odds was proof of concept. Devotion to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception proliferated in Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1604, King Felipe III enforced a mandatory oath in all civil and military institutions of the kingdom, requiring all to swear to defend to the death the idea of the Immaculate Conception. Then in 1759, the Spanish Cortes asked King Carlos III to request that the pope proclaim Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception as the Patroness of all the Kingdoms of Spain and its territories, which Pope Clement granted with the papal bull Quantum ornamenti in 1760. (Saint James the Greater remains the primary patron of the Spanish people.)

Finally, in 1849, facing growing modernization and challenges to the church’s authority, Pope Pius IX asked the bishops their opinion on whether the doctrine of Mary’s Immaculate Conception should be made an official dogma of the Catholic Church. With overwhelming support from the bishops, the pope waived the need of scriptural proof and on December 8, 1854 the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus was promulgated solely on the basis of papal infallibility, finally laying to rest any doubts within the church about Mary’s Immaculate Conception.

Observance Today

Though Catholicism remains a strong identifying feature of Spain’s culture, its practice in the traditional sense has diminished significantly. This is partially due to a cohort effect in which inherited religiosity weakens across succeeding generations. This is particularly true in Catalunya, where the relationship between the Catholic Church and the people has been a long, complicated and often painful one.

Additionally, it’s important to remember that a growth in immigration has created a more culturally diverse nation. Here in Catalunya a study done between 2014 and 2016 showed an increase of almost 13 percentage points in the number of citizens who believed that there was a good relationship between different religious communities in Spain, pointing to an increase in both religious diversity and tolerance. 

As a result of increasing secularization in Spain, celebrations on December 8 tend to be relatively muted, consisting typically of a solemn mass, followed by some form of procession in honor of the Virgin. 

Barcelona’s Basílica de la Puríssima 

Though many residents take the holiday on December 8 as an opportunity to leave the city for a weekend away, there are plenty of ways to observe the deeply historic and cultural traditions which honor the Immaculate Conception.

If you are fortunate enough to find yourself in Barcelona, why not pay a visit to the Basílica de la Puríssima Concepció i Assumpció de Nostra Senyora? This centuries-old church in the heart of modernist Barcelona is the center of many religious and social activities in Eixample, with a rich and fascinating history. Though it only recently received the title of minor basilica from Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, the church is one of the city’s oldest existing ecclesiastical buildings. The beautiful, late 13th-century Gothic basilica and cloister originally belonged to the Santa Maria de Jonqueres convent and stood near the old city walls about where Plaça d'Urquinaona is now. It was one of the buildings along the narrow streets of the densely-packed Gothic Quarter that had been scheduled for demolition at the end of the 19th century to allow the city to expand. Instead, it was decided to relocate it, and it was moved—stone by stone—to its present location in 1869. A year later, when the Sant Miquel Church was also to be demolished for the expansion of City Hall, it was decided that its bell tower would be the perfect addition to complete the ensemble. 

Much like the story of the image of Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception discovered at Empel, the upkeep of this glorious building owes largely to the faith and devotion of Spanish citizens. More than just an insight into the history of this Catholic tradition, a visit to the basilica offers the opportunity to surround yourself in the history of the Immaculate Conception in Spain.

Published December 1, 2020, updated November 29, 2024.