Traditional festivals are very common in Spain. Some are celebrated throughout Spain, while others are specific to a particular region, town or village…so it’s not always easy to find your way around when it comes to public holidays. Personally, we’re still struggling! There are also a few days a year when there’s no school (known as “no lectivo” days), but these are not public holidays that are not worked. In short, we’d like to explain the Spanish calendar and its public holidays, with a focus on the Madrid region. For an overview, we also take a look at the school holidays.
A few explanations
Different public holidays for different Autonomous Communities (Comunidad)
Spain is made up of 17 autonomous communities (“Comunidad” in Spanish). Certain powers that are not exclusive to the State may be assumed by the autonomous communities. For example, certain public holidays may be defined by these communities.
Each year, a list of public holidays is published, along with the days that may be modified by the communities. There are a total of 12 national public holidays. Of these 12 days, between 7 and 9 will be national public holidays that cannot be changed. And between 3 and 5 days may be modified by the Autonomous Communities. This distribution varies from year to year, depending, for example, on public holidays that fall on Sundays, bridging days, etc. Finally, there are 2 days for local festivities. For example, festivities in honour of the patron saint of a town or village.
To sum up, there are 3 cases:
- National public holidays, which cannot be changed. They will be public holidays throughout Spain (between 7 and 9 days depending on the year).
- National public holidays that can be changed by the autonomous communities (between 3 and 5 days).
- In addition, each municipality has 2 public holidays for its own local festivals.
The difference between public holidays and “no lectivo” days
Please note that there are also some “no lectivo” days in addition to public holidays. It depends on the Autonomous Communities. These are days when there is no school, but they are not public holidays. It’s a sort of school holiday. In reality, it’s not very practical for families, because parents have to organise childcare if they can’t keep their child(ren) or take a day off.
For example, in the Autonomous Community of Madrid, every year during Carnival there is a day when children do not go to school, but it is not a public holiday.
Public holidays
Taking 2023 as the reference year, here is the breakdown of the 12 public holidays, between those common to the whole of Spain that cannot be changed, those that can be changed by the autonomous communities and those specific to each city.
A – National public holidays that cannot be changed in 2023 (8 days) :
- 1 January (New Year)
- 6 January (Epiphany)
- 15 April (Good Friday)
- 15 August (Assumption)
- 12 October (Spanish National Day)
- 1st November
- 6 December (Constitution Day)
- 8 December (Immaculate Conception)
If a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the Autonomous Communities may then decide to move it to the following Monday or replace it with a public holiday specific to the history of the region.
Then in 2022, here are the public holidays that have been listed as ‘modifiable’ for the Autonomous Communities:
B – National public holidays to be modified by the Autonomous Communities in 2023 (4 days)
- 19 March (San José) or 25 July (Santiago Apóstol) (the comunidad must choose between the 2)
- 14 April (Maundy Thursday)
- 2 May (Labour Day, Monday following 1 May)
- 26 December (Monday following 25 December)
For example, for the Autonomous Community of Madrid:
- 2 May: Comunidad de Madrid public holiday. The Autonomous Community has chosen not to move the public holiday of 1 May (Labour Day) to Monday, but to designate 2 May as the Comunidad de Madrid public holiday.
C – 2 local festivals
These are public holidays linked solely to the history of the town. Each locality is entitled to 2 public holidays. For the city of Madrid:
- 15 May: San Isidro Labrador, patron saint of Madrid. This is an important festival for Madrid. A very festive time. It’s a great time to visit Madrid. As 15 May falls on a Sunday, Monday 16 May will be a public holiday in 2022.
- 9 November: Madrid celebrates its patron saint, the Virgin of Almudena.
The “no lectivo” (no school) days in the Comunidad de Madrid
As mentioned above, there are public holidays at school level but these are not non-working days. The children are off, but not the parents! Don’t worry, not many organisations (schools, private bodies, etc.) offer childcare workshops on these days. But of course, there’s a charge.
These days vary from region to region. In the Autonomous Community of Madrid, for the 2023/2024 school year, the ‘no lectivo’ days will be :
- 11 October 2023
- 7th December 2023
- 7 January (following the celebration of the Three Wise Men)
- 25 and 28 February (carnival days)
- 8 and 18 April (one day before and one day after Semana Santa)
- 2 May (linked to the festivities of the Comunidad de Madrid).
School holidays in Spain
There are 3 school holiday periods (i.e. fewer than in France). The dates may change slightly depending on the Autonomous Community.
Key points to remember about the school holiday periods :
- Summer: mid/late June to early/mid-September (summer school holidays vary slightly depending on the level).
- Christmas: a little over 15 days, as in Spain the Three Kings are celebrated on 6 January. The school holidays end on 7 January at the latest.
- Semana Santa: 10 days – around the beginning of April.
Find out more about the Comunidad de Madrid school calendar HERE
We hope you’ll find the calendar of public holidays in Spain a little clearer, because it’s not easy!
A word of advice: if you want to organise a holiday during the bank holidays or bridging days, we recommend that you book your accommodation early. Everything gets snapped up very quickly, as there aren’t many school holidays!
Emilie
