May 2007

STAMP DAY. Spanish Philately Associations

Issue date	7/05/2007
Stamping	Offset
Paper	Self-adhesive, phosphorescent
Size of the Stamps	28.8 x 40.9 mm. (vertical)
Face value of the stamps	€0.30
Fold effects	20
Editiona	Unlimited

On occasion of the traditional « Stamp Day » issue, a self adhesive stamp is launched devoted to Spanish Stamp Collecting to stress the importance unity in stamp collecting has had over the years.

On the 10th April 1869, a group of people fond of stamps created The London Philatelic Society, the oldest philatelic association in the world. It was awarded the “Royal” title in 1906 due to its prestige and international acknowledgement which it still has today and is now known as The Royal Philatelic Society London. Based on the English example, philatelic associations were established in other countries.

In Spain, the first associations came up at the end of the XIX century being one of the first ones The Philatelic Society of Seville founded in 1895. In 1900 the Valencia Philatelic Union was created with regulations published in Spanish and French gathering up the objectives of this association. It writes down a “Stamp Swap” section between members with a road map under strict control. This association and the thriving Catalonian Philatelic Society from Barcelona, attempted from the beginning of the XX century to unite Spanish philately so that dealers and stamp collectors could create common philatelic societies.

In 1908 took place in Zaragoza the first Spanish philatelic congress and in 1909 in Valencia was held the first philatelic exhibition in our country. Gradually began to take place philatelic encounters in which arouse the need to build up a national association that would bring together the existing ones. This came about in1963 with the foundation of the Spanish Federation of Philatelic Societies that aims at promoting and developing philately, numismatic and other activities linked to stamp collecting and strengthen the bonds between philatelic societies grouped in the different Federations of the 17 autonomous regions in Spain.

At an international level there are different federations of philatelic associations. The International Federation of Philately (FIP), the European Federation of Philatelic Associations (FEPA), the Interamerican Federation of Philately (FIAF) and the International Association of Philatelic Experts (AIEP) are amongst the most important.