Which Spanish department-store chain helped promote Mother's Day on the first Sunday of May?

Galerías Preciados helped promote Mother’s Day on the first Sunday of May in Spain. The department-store chain adopted the custom in the early 1960s, drawing on a May celebration already established in Cuba.

Spain had previously associated Mother’s Day with other dates. In 1939, the Youth Front promoted it on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. For a time, the December and May observances existed alongside one another, reflecting competing religious, cultural, and commercial traditions.

Galerías Preciados’s promotion helped make the May date more visible to shoppers and families. Its main commercial rival, El Corte Inglés, continued associating the celebration with December during this transitional period, making the rivalry part of the holiday’s history.

In 1965, Spanish ecclesiastical authorities chose May for the national observance, connecting it with the month traditionally dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Spain now celebrates Mother’s Day on the first Sunday of May, although it is generally considered a popular rather than an official public holiday.