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Monday November 2 is a bank holiday in nine regions of Spain but a normal working day in the Region of Murcia and Alicante, so anyone hoping for a long weekend here will need to book a day off.

 

All Saints’ Day falls on Sunday November 1 this year, and nine communities have moved the day of rest to the following Monday. According to the official labour calendar published in the BOE, workers in Andalucía, Aragón, Asturias, the Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Madrid and Navarra get three days off in a row, from Saturday October 31 to Monday November 2, and go back to work on Tuesday November 3.

 

Everywhere else is generally a working day, including Cataluña, Galicia, the Valencian Community, the Basque Country, Cantabria, La Rioja, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta, Melilla and the Region of Murcia.

 

Workers there will have to use a holiday day, agree time off with their employer or take a day of free disposal to make a long weekend of it, unless their town has a local holiday that happens to fall on the date.

 

The difference comes down to the Workers’ Statute, which caps paid holidays at 14 a year, two of them local, and lets each region decide which ones to keep and what to do when one lands on a Sunday.

 

All Saints’ Day itself is still celebrated on Sunday November 1 across the country, and even where Monday is a holiday, hospitality, tourism, transport and some shops may stay open.

 

The next chance for a long break comes in December, when Constitution Day on December 6 also falls on a Sunday. Several communities will move it to Monday December 7, and with December 8, the Immaculate Conception, a holiday throughout Spain, workers in those places will get four days off from Saturday December 5 to Tuesday December 8.

 

 

Image: freddy dendoktoor / Public Domain Pictures (CC0)