Valentine´s Day

Valentine's Day and el Día de San Valentín are almost the same but they are not the same necessarily. 
First, though the name in English is Saint Valentine´s Day, the word Saint is usually out in the Anglo-Saxon tradition. In Spanish we keep the "full name" so to speak and it is common to wish other people: "¡Feliz Día de San Valentín!" or "¡Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad!" (the latter may sound corny though).
It is custormary everywhere to send cards, flowers or chocolates to that person who is special to us, but here is another difference: in the Anglo-Saxon tradition you can identify that person as "your Valentine" something we are not used to in Spanish-speaking countries. In fact, you yourself become that person´s Valentine. This custom apparently stems from what happened to Saint Valentine, the person after whom Valentine's Day is called Valentine. Believe it or not he really existed and he seemss to have been a Christian martyr who left a note to his beloved before he was executed (we could say that was the first Valentine card ever!) which he signed "Your Valentine".

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