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The Fiesta Nacional de España on October 12 marks the anniversary of when Christopher Columbus first set foot in the Americas in 1492, and remembers other aspects of Spain's social and cultural history.

Juan Carlos I will be joined by thousands of locals and visitors to Madrid to watch the parade, which will be made up of 3,000 members of the Armed Forces, 147 military vehicles, and 55 planes. The parade, which starts at 10.30am, takes place in the centre of the city, convenient for visitors who have booked Madrid apartments this week.

As well as the military parade, people who have rented holiday apartments in Madrid will be able to enjoy free visits to the Prado Museum, Thyssen Museum, and more the 40 other museums, gardens and palaces as they host events such as concerts, exhibitions and film showings throughout the day.

Ramón Jáuregui, a politician who holds the post of Minister for the Presidency, said the Spanish government's intention is for large scale celebrations in Madrid this week to be replicated across other cities in Spain in the future, creating a large 'civil party' on National Day.

Meanwhile, the city's Reina Sofia Museum has opened an exhibition dedicated to Italian artist Alighiero E Boetti, who died in 1994.

The retrospective will be open until February 5 next year ahead of its display at London's Tate Modern.

The exhibit gathers together almost one hundred works from different periods of Boetti's career.

The artist made his name as one of the founders of the Arte Povera movement, alongside artists such as Michelangelo Pistoletto

Highlights of the exhibit include works from the start of Boetti's career, such as 1971's Lampada Annuale, along with the mysterious Aerei, which consists of large panels traced with ballpoint pen, showing planes criss-crossing in the sky.