Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, a public holiday ( pt, feriado) is a

calendar date A calendar date is a reference to a particular day represented within a calendar system. The calendar date allows the specific day to be identified. The number of days between two dates may be calculated. For example, "25 " is ten days after " ...

, legally recognised and defined in the Labour Code as well as the

Concordat of 2004 The Concordat of 2004 was an agreement between Portugal and the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church. The concordat was signed on 18 May 2004 by Angelo Sodano, Cardinal Secretary of State, for the Holy See and José Manuel Durão Barroso, Prime ...

, on which most businesses and non-essential services are closed. On some of these dates, public commemorative festivities are traditionally held. Public holidays in Portugal are a mixture of select 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 lette ...

) observances and days that have national historical or cultural significance. These dates have changed over time: currently, there are 13 mandatory holidays and one optional (

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

) that has to be specifically designated as a day off work ( pt, tolerância de ponto) each year by government decree (for public servants) or companies (for private sector). Specific dates may alternatively be observed only at

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

level. Collective bargaining can specify that optional holidays are observed always and are also free for agreeing other dates that the specific company or sector agrees to observe as a holiday (e.g. bank holidays).

Public holidays in Portugal

Revoked holidays in 2013–2015

In 2012, the Coalition government of

Pedro Passos Coelho Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho (; born 24 July 1964) is a Portuguese politician and university guest lecturer who was the 118th prime minister of Portugal, in office from 2011 to 2015. He was the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) b ...

controversially revoked four holidays – two civilian holidays (Republic Day and Restoration of Independence) and two religious ones (Corpus Christi and All Saints Day). The move was effective from 2013 onwards and was presented as a measure to increase productivity, in the context of the 2011–2014 Troika bailout to Portugal (even though that measure was never requested by the Memorandum of Understanding). Public debate and re-evaluation were scheduled in 2018 for the religious holidays. The four holidays were eventually restored by the government of

António Costa António Luís Santos da Costa GCIH (; born 17 July 1961) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician serving as the 119th and current prime minister of Portugal since 26 November 2015, presiding over the XXI (2015–2019), XXII (2019–2022) and ...

, in January 2016.

Local holidays

According to a Decree of 12 October 1910,

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

were given the possibility of choosing a day that would represent their traditional festivals.

References

External links

Religious Festivals in Madeira 2014

Madeira Events 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Public Holidays in Portugal

Holidays A holiday is a day set aside by Norm (social), custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate ...

Portuguese culture Observances in Portugal