Spain is the second* most visited country in the world with around 83 million international visitor each year.
If you plan to be one of those visitors in 2020, it’s worth taking a few minutes to look at Spain’s public holidays to plan ahead, as it can frustrating to find out public transport isn’t running when you arrive or that the bank is closed or the ATM has run out of cash at the end of a busy festival.
Some tourist attractions may also change their opening hours or days on public holidays.
As all the regions of Spain have now announced their community holidays for 2020, we can look at the work schedule of Spain for 2020.
As usual, we start with a basecamp of eight holidays to be held jointly across the country.
These national holidays which cannot be substituted by the autonomous communities are:
Weekday | Date | Holiday | Spanish |
---|---|---|---|
Wednesday | January 1st | New Year | Año Nuevo |
Monday | January 6th | Epiphany | Reyes Magos |
Friday | April 10th | Good Friday | Viernes Santo |
Friday | May 1st | Labor Day | Día del Trabajador |
Saturday | August 15th | Assumption of the Virgin | Asunción de la Virgen |
Monday | October 12th | National Holiday of Spain | Fiesta Nacional de España |
Tuesday | December 8th | Immaculate Conception | Inmaculada Concepción |
Friday | December 25th | Christmas | Navidad |
In addition to these eight national holidays, each autonomous community can choose up to four more holidays. Here’s run-down by community. If you know what region are interested in, click the name to go to the 2020 page for that community.
Autonomous Community | Community Holidays |
---|---|
Andalucía | February 28th Andalucía Day April 9th Holy Thursday November 2nd All Saints Day (in lieu) December 7th Constitution Day (in lieu) |
Aragón | April 9th Holy Thursday Apr 23rd National Day of Aragon November 2nd All Saints Day (in lieu) December 7th Constitution Day (in lieu) |
Asturias | April 9th Holy Thursday September 8th Day of Asturias December 7th Constitution Day (in lieu) |
Balearic Islands | April 9th Holy Thursday April 13th Easter Monday December 7th Constitution Day (in lieu) December 26th St. Stephen’s Day |
Basque Country | March 19th St. Joseph’s Day April 9th Holy Thursday April 13th Easter Monday July 25th St. James’ Day |
Cantabria | April 9th Holy Thursday July 28th Day of Cantabrian Institutions September 15th Lady of Aparecida |
Castilla-La Mancha | March 19th St. Joseph’s Day April 9th Holy Thursday April 13th Easter Monday May 31st Castilla-La Mancha Day June 11th Corpus Christi |
Castilla y León | April 9th Holy Thursday April 23rd Community Day November 2nd All Saints Day (in lieu) December 7th Constitution Day (in lieu) |
Catalonia | April 13th Easter Monday June 24th Feast of St. John the Baptist September 11th National of Catalonia December 26th St. Stephen’s Day |
Extremadura | April 9th Holy Thursday September 8th Day of Extremadura November 2nd All Saints Day (in lieu) December 7th Constitution Day (in lieu) |
Galicia | March 19th St. Joseph’s Day April 9th Holy Thursday June 24th Feast of St. John the Baptist July 25th St. James’ Day |
La Rioja | April 9th Holy Thursday April 13th Easter Monday June 9th La Rioja day December 7th Constitution Day (in lieu) |
Madrid | April 9th Holy Thursday May 2nd Community Festival of Madrid November 2nd All Saints Day (in lieu) December 7th Constitution Day (in lieu) |
Murcia | March 19th St. Joseph’s Day April 9th Holy Thursday June 9th Day of Murcia December 7th Constitution Day (in lieu) |
Navarra | March 19th St. Joseph’s Day April 9th Holy Thursday December 3rd Feast of St. Francis Xavier December 7th Constitution Day (in lieu) |
Valenciana | March 19th St. Joseph’s Day April 13th Easter Monday June 24th Feast of St. John the Baptist October 9th Valencian Community Day |
Ceuta | April 9th Holy Thursday June 13th Feast of St. Anthony July 31st Eid El Kebir August 5th Our Lady of Africa September 2nd Ceuta Day December 7th Constitution Day (in lieu) |
Melilla | April 9th Holy Thursday July 31st Eid El Kebir September 17th Day of Melilla December 7th Constitution Day (in lieu) |
A popular community holiday this year is observing Constitution Day on Monday December 7th. This is because December 8th is also a holiday, so this will create a four-day weekend.
By the same measure, adding Holy Thursday before Good Friday creates another extra-long weekend – even more so in those regions who also observe Easter Monday.
The final total of holidays can then be increased to 14 as municipal areas can observe up to two more holidays local to them.
The total number of holidays then becomes very long. On our site ,we show the national, community-level holidays and a selection of municipal holidays for major cities such as Madrid and Barcelona.
And if you are from the UK, we can only apologise if you are feeling a bit green-eyed after reading this, given Brits only enjoy eight public holidays a year!
*France is the most visited country in the world with 89 million international visitors a year.
For full details of all Spanish Public Holidays in 2020, with years planners for all regions and the ability to add regional holidays to your favourite calendar programme, check out OfficeHolidays.com.