Spain has always been known for being a country with many festivities, but the reality is very different from what is commonly thought. In the ranking of countries with the most public holidays, Spain is far from the top of the list.
Now that Easter week is coming, some Spaniards will be able to enjoy a little holiday. The truth is that, although it started a few days ago, there are already people looking at the calendar to find out what the next long weekend or public holiday is. However, it should be pointed out that in Spain there are not as many public holidays as people tend to think. In fact, if you compare Spain’s national holidays with other European countries, you can see that it ranks seventh.
These are the European countries with the most public holidays:
1.- Slovakia
15 days
2.- Greece
14 days
2.- Malta
14 days
3.- Portugal
13 days
3.- Finland
13 days
3.- Sweden
13 days
4.- Italy
12 days
4.- Belgium
12 days
5.- Luxembourg
11 days
6.- Germany
10 days
6.- France
10 days
6.- The Netherlands
10 days
7.- Spain
9 days
Slovakia with 15 days, followed by Greece and Malta with 14, Portugal, Finland and Sweden with 13, Italy and Belgium with 12, Luxembourg with 11, Germany, France, and the Netherlands with 10 and finally Spain with 9.
A comparison of national public holidays with other European countries shows that Spain is in seventh place.
More curiosities
Compared to other countries around the world, such as the United States, Spain has a much lower number of national holidays. In the United States, for example, there are 11 days of federal holidays, which means that Spain is a few days behind. However, the most important thing to note is that in Spain there are two nuances that mean that the number of public holidays is not really so low.
If a public holiday falls on a Sunday, it is moved to the following day, i.e., Monday. This detail increases the number of national holidays a little more. Another important point to note is that Spain, like most European countries, also has regional public holidays. The number of regional holidays varies according to each autonomous community. In general, the autonomous communities have between 1 and 3 regional holidays per year, in addition to the national holidays that are common to the whole country.
For example, Andalusia has 2 regional holidays, Catalonia has 4, Madrid has 2, Valencia has 3, etc. It is important to bear in mind that regional holidays may vary from one year to another, as their date is established according to the liturgical calendar or the celebration of a relevant historical event for each autonomous community.
In short, although Spain has fewer national holidays compared to other European countries, it has the benefit of moving public holidays that fall on a Sunday to the following Monday and also has regional holidays. This means that the number of total public holidays in Spain is not as low as it might seem at first sight.
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