Spanish Public Holidays, Saints Days and Puentes
Never the ones to miss out on the chance of a party, the Spanish have a complicated system of national, regional and local public holidays. Frankly, we don't stand a chance of getting every detail right here, but we've tried our best. If you turn up in a town or a little village and unexpectedly find the streets closed and a huge procession passing through the centre, well, sorry; you'll just have to park up and join in the fun.
The concept of a "puente" requires a little explanation. Most holidays fall on a fixed date rather than a day, so if that date is a Saturday or a Sunday, you lose out. On the other hand, if the holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, it's really not worth going to work on the Monday or Friday, so it's a "puente". For example, this year Día de Andalucía is a Tuesday, so Monday is a puente and everyone has two days off. (Literal translation: "puente" = "bridge".) It all balances out in the end.
Here are the national holidays that are celebrated all over Spain:
| 1 Jan | Año Nuevo (New Year's Day) |
| 6 Jan | Los Reyes Magos (Twelfth Night, when children traditionally receive their presents) |
| 19 Mar | San Jose (Father's Day) |
| 10 Apr 2009 | Viernes Santo (Good Friday) |
| 12 Apr 2009 | Dia de Pascua (Easter Sunday) (Easter Week is the week before and not the week after) |
| 13 Apr 2009 | Easter Monday |
| 1 May | Dia del Trabajo (May Day) |
| 6 Jun | Corpus Christi |
| 24 Jun | San Juan (St John's Day) |
| 29 Jun | San Pedro y San Pablo (St Peter and St Paul) |
| 25 Jul | Santiago (St James, patron saint of Spain) |
| 15 Aug | Asunción (Assumption) |
| 12 Oct | Dia de la Constitución (Constitution Day or Columbus Day) |
| 1Nov | Todos los Santos (All Saints Day) |
| 6 Dec | Dia de la Constitucion (Constitution Day) |
| 8 Dec | Immaculada Concepcion (Immaculate Conception) |
| 24 Dec | Noche Buena (Not actually a public holiday but the main family Christmas meal is eaten in the evening) |
| 25 Dec | Navidad (Christmas Day) |
| 31 Dec | Noche Vieja (Not a public holiday, but of course all the big celebrations happen at midnight) |
And now it gets a bit more complicated! The following is a reasonably accurate list (I hope!) of some of the regional and local holidays :
| 2 Jan | Granada | Reconquest Festival - celebrating the Christian conquest of the Moors in 1492 |
| 17 Jan | Mallorca and Alicante | San Anton |
| 29 Jan | Zaragoza | St.Valerus |
| 20 Jan | San Sebastian | San Sebastian (Saint Stephen) |
| 1 - 2 Feb | Antequera | Candelaria |
| ?? Feb | Cadiz | Festival de Cadiz - the oldest festival in Spain, with parades and colourful costumes |
| ?? Feb | Madrid | Madrid Carnival - masked ball, fancy dress and the burial of a sardine followed by a concert in Plaza Mayor |
| 28 Feb | Andalucia | Dia de Andalucia |
| 3 Mar | Balearic Islands | Dia de Baleares |
| 15 -19 Mar | Valencia | Fallas de Valencia |
| 27 Mar | Alicante | Pilgrimage of the Holy Visage |
| 31 Mar | Basque Country | Dia de Patria Vasco |
| 1 Apr | Calatayud (Aragon) | Sunday of San Lazaro |
| 28 Apr - 3 May | Sevilla | April Fair |
| 23 Apr | Castilla y Leon | Fiesta de la Castilla y Leon |
| 23 Apr | Cataluña | St.George, patron saint of Catalonia |
| 26 - 29 Apr | Andujar (Jaen) | Romeria - also the oldest festival in Spain (depends who you believe!) |
| 27 Apr | Barcelona | Virgin of Montserrat |
| 1 - 3 May | Alicante | May Crosses (Cruces de Mayo). Lots of other places as well. |
| 2 May | Madrid | Dia de Comunidad de Madrid |
| 11 May | Barcelona | Día de Sant Ponc, patron saint of herbalists |
| 12 - 21 May | Madrid | Fiesta de San Isidro - 10 day celebration of the patron saint - parties, parades, bullfights and dances |
| 14 May | Antequera | Romeria day |
| 15 May | Estepona, Malaga | San Isidro |
| 30 May | Canarias | Dia de Canarias |
| 31 May | Castilla-La-Mancha | Dia de Comunidad de Castilla-La-Mancha |
| 9 June | La Rioja | Dia de La Rioja |
| 9 June | Murcia | Dia de la Region |
| 23 June | Cataluña | Dia de Sant Joan |
| 13 Jul | Fuengirola | Annual feria at the Sohail Castle |
| 13 - 22 Jul | La Linea | Annual feria week based on Virgen del Carmen |
| 16 Jul | Estepona | Virgen del Carmen: Annual feast of the fishermen when the waters are blessed and the Virgen is carried to sea in a procession |
| 16 Jul | Alicante | Virgen del Carmen: Annual celebration when the fishing port comes alive to mark their patron saint |
| 22 - 25 Jul | Antequera | Feria de Santiago |
| 25 Jul | Galicia | Santiago Apostle |
| 28 Jul | Cantabria | Dia de Cantabria |
| 29 Jul | Los Morales (Seville) | St.Marta, local patron saint |
| All Aug | Ojen (Andalucia) | Festival of Flamenco singing |
| 11-15 Aug | Benahavis (Andalucia) | Virgen del Rosario - Sevillian mass and procession |
| 16 Aug | Calatayud (Aragon) | San Roque |
| Mid Aug | Malaga | Feria de Malaga - 10 day long fair - fireworks, horses and gallons of wine |
| 3 Sep | Navarra | Dia de Navarra |
| 8 Sep | Asturias | Dia de Asturias |
| 8 Sep | Extremadura | Dia de Extremadura |
| 8 Sep | Antequera | Feria de la Patrona Ntra.Sra. de las Virtudes |
| 11 Sep | Cataluña | Dia Nacional de Cataluña - flagwaving and demonstrations celebrating the region's independence. Bound to be especially big this year |
| 24 Sep | Barcelona | Festival Setmana Cran - patron saint's day - evening mass followed by a procession to the cathedral then finishing at the harbour |
| 9 Oct | Valencia | Dia de Comunidad Valenciana |
| 12 Oct | Zaragoza | Day of El Pilar, procession of giant figures |
