Public holidays celebrated in Spain include a mix of religious (
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
), national and regional observances. Each municipality is allowed to have a maximum of 14
public holiday
A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year.
Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history ...
s per year; a maximum of nine of these are chosen by the national government and at least two are chosen locally, including
patronal festivals
A patronal feast or patronal festival ( es, fiesta patronal; pt, festa patronal; ca, festa patronal; it, festa patronale; french: fête patronale) is a yearly celebration dedicated, in countries influenced by Christianity, to the "heavenly advoc ...
.
If one of the "national holidays" happens to fall on a Sunday the regional governments — the
autonomous communities of Spain
eu, autonomia erkidegoa
ca, comunitat autònoma
gl, comunidade autónoma
oc, comunautat autonòma
an, comunidat autonoma
ast, comunidá autónoma
, alt_name =
, map =
, category = Autonomous administr ...
— can choose an alternate holiday or they can allow local authorities to choose. In practice, except for holidays falling on a Sunday, the regional governments can choose up to three holidays per year; or they can choose fewer to allow for more options at the local level.
A
puente (bridge) is sometimes made between weekends and holidays that fall on Tuesday or Thursday. The puente will then create a long weekend.
Since 2010,
Ceuta
Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa.
Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...
and
Melilla, both
autonomous cities of Spain
eu, autonomia erkidegoa
ca, comunitat autònoma
gl, comunidade autónoma
oc, comunautat autonòma
an, comunidat autonoma
ast, comunidá autónoma
, alt_name =
, map =
, category = Autonomous administra ...
, have declared the
Muslim holiday
There are two official holidays in Islam, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, which are celebrated by Muslims worldwide. Both holidays occur on dates in the lunar Islamic calendar, which is different from the solar-based Gregorian calendar, so they are ...
of
Eid al-Adha
Eid al-Adha () is the second and the larger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam (the other being Eid al-Fitr). It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of obedience to Allah's com ...
or Feast of the Sacrifice, as an official public holiday. It was the first time a non-Christian
religious festival
A religious festival is a time of special importance marked by adherents to that religion. Religious festivals are commonly celebrated on recurring cycles in a calendar year or lunar calendar. The science of religious rites and festivals is known ...
has been officially celebrated in Spain since the
Reconquista
The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...
.
Some workers take a day off to join a weekend and a holiday into a
long weekend
A long weekend is a weekend that is at least three days long (i.e. a three-day weekend), due to a public or unofficial holiday occurring on either the following Monday or preceding Friday.
Many countries also have four-day weekends, in which ...
.
This is known as in Spanish.
Current Spanish holidays
The following table is updated to 2023.
References
External links
National and regional holidays in Spain from an expatriate perspectivePublic Holidays in BarcelonaPublic Holidays in Spain 2020
{{Spain topics
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
Holidays