☀️ June, Extra as Ever
Schooooooooool's out! For! Solstice!
Here’s to a bright, bold beginning to the hottest, crankiest, most sun-drenched season.
June has the kind of calendar that feels like it got overbooked and just decided to lean in. Pride, Juneteenth, Loving Day, the summer solstice, San Juan—they tumble in one after another, full of meaning, heat, and sparkle.
My husband and I got married right in the middle of it, without realizing we’d picked a date that was significant on both sides of the Atlantic.
“Ah, el Día de San Juan” (St. John’s Day)
When my husband and I told his Spanish family we were planning a wedding in Oregon on June 24th, 2021, their response was: "Ah, el Día de San Juan” (the birthday of St. John the Baptist).
We hadn’t chosen the date for that reason—it simply fit within our short two-month planning window and allowed time for everyone to get fully vaccinated. After the isolation of the pandemic, sending out invitations was a delight.
Spain reopened for travel on our wedding day, so we told our queridos (dear ones) we’d have a Spanish wedding (which we did in 2023).
Still, there was something uncanny in the alignment: our wedding took place beneath Portland’s iconic St. John’s Bridge, in Cathedral Park in Portland, Oregon.
We were thrilled by the symbolism, the gothic arches, and celebrating outdoors with loved ones.
In Spain, Día de San Juan marks the start of summer solstice and the end of the school year for most public, private, and charter schools. What a time to celebrate!
Catholic Holiday, Meet Solstice Rituals
Día de San Juan has roots in Christian and pre-Christian traditions. The day celebrates the birth of Saint John the Baptist in the Catholic faith, but its customs go deeper—linked to the summer solstice, when fire and water are invoked to purify, protect, and renew. In Alicante, people burn effigies, light bonfires, and watch fireworks at the beach.
In our Madrid neighborhood, the celebration is more urban than coastal—less bonfire, more block party—but the spirit is the same: heat, music, laughter, and a shared sense that something is beginning as it’s ending.
But wait, there’s more!
U.S. Holidays in June
In the United States, June is dense with commemorative days:
Loving Day (June 12th), marking the 1967 Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia, which struck down laws banning interracial marriage.
Juneteenth (June 19th), honoring the end of slavery in the U.S., when news of emancipation finally reached the last enslaved people in Texas in 1865. It became a federal holiday in 2021.
Each of these moments is both a celebration and a call to continue pushing toward justice.
Pride Through July
Spain, being casually late to everything, extends Pride beyond June. In Madrid, Pride is a weeklong, citywide festival known as MADO (Madrid Orgullo), filled with concerts, art exhibitions, performances, and vibrant street life.
The real reason Pride gets started so late in Spain is that June 28th is the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising in 1969—a landmark rebellion against police raids at a gay bar in New York City, led by LGBTQ+ activists, especially Black, Latin@, and trans women.
MADO plays host to one of Europe’s largest Pride parades, held this year on July 5th. The festivities draw millions and transform the city into a living, breathing celebration of identity, resistance, and community.
To the Start of Something Bright
No matter the calendar—lunar, academic, or Gregorian—June knows how to bring the party.
And even though in Madrid summer has arrived with insufferable heat and air quality that’s more apocalyptic than festive, here’s hoping summer still brings moments of joy, shade, and maybe even a breeze.
Felíz San Juan. Happy Pride. Happy Independence Day. Happy Start of Summer.
Here’s to a bright, bold beginning to the hottest, crankiest, most sun-drenched season.
💬 Leave a Comment
Are you celebrating summer in sandals and sunscreen? Or spraying water towards an oscillating fan so can try to get some damn sleep? This is a safe space for those who would like to be invited, not hazed into summer. Share your plans or misery in the comments.
⏮️ Last Week
I learned that many of you consider ordering a shandy to be embarrassing, so it seems like a as good a time as ever to call it by another name. Or make one at home…
🍻 Cerveza Clara: Spain’s Summer Beer
This drink is also known as a shandy—which sounds like a highfalutin British or Belgian beer. I promise you it’s not.
But why would they start the summer solstice after the first day of summer solstice everywhere else, which is on the 21st?
Also have to say about your wedding photo... WOW 🤩