Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries in the Americas and elsewhere which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in and European discovery of the American Continent on October 12, 1492. The landing is celebrated as Columbus Day in the United States, as Día de la Raza ("Day of the Race") in many countries in Latin America and as Día de la Hispanidad and Fiesta Nacional in Spain, where it is also the religious festivity of la Virgen del Pilar.