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WORKING IN SPAIN

Spain’s public and regional holidays in 2023: How to make the most of them

2023 will be a good year for long weekends and bank holidays. Here’s how to plan ahead and turn Spain's national and regional holidays into extended breaks without using up your annual leave.

Published: 5 October 2022 17:13 CEST
SPAIN-PUBLIC-HOLIDAYS-2023
A huge Spanish flag covers the façade of a building in Valdebebas in Madrid. In 2023 pretty much everybody in Spain will have at least 7 'puentes' to enjoy. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

People in every region of Spain will enjoy 14 public holidays in 2023, 8 of which are national holidays that can’t be omitted or replaced from the calendar. 

What’s more, 4 of these 8 fall on Monday or Friday, which give you the option of taking a three-day weekend without having to book out any leave from work. 

Two others fall on a Tuesday and a Thursday, which means that by taking one day off from work you can have four days off in a row. 

Spain’s public holidays in 2023 are:

  • Friday April 7th: Good Friday (Viernes Santo)
  • Monday May 1st: May Day (Día del Trabajo)
  • Tuesday August 15th: Assumption of Mary (Asunción de la Virgen)
  • Thursday October 12th: Spain’s National Day (Día Nacional)
  • Wednesday November 1st:  All Saints Day (Día de Todos los Santos)
  • Wednesday December 6th: Constitution Day (Día de la Constitución)
  • Friday December 8th: Immaculate Conception (Inmaculada Concepción)
  • Monday December 25th: Christmas Day (Navidad)

Spain’s official national holidays list is missing two key dates: Three Kings Day (which falls on Friday January 6th and is a holiday in all of Spain’s regions) and New Year’s Day. 

Because January 1st 2023 falls on a Sunday, not all regions are making Monday January 2nd a holiday; so far only Andalusia, Murcia, Aragón, Asturias and Castilla Y León.

Everyone in Spain will also get at least 2 days off for Easter. Apart from Friday April 7th (which is a holiday across Spain), Maundy Thursday 6th will be a holiday in every region except Catalonia and the Valencia region, which instead have Monday April 10th off. In the Balearics, La Rioja, Navarre and the Basque Country it’s a holiday on Thursday, Friday and Monday, which equates to five days off in a row.

It’s worth noting as well that the December 2023 puente (how Spaniards refer to ‘bridging’ the days between official public holidays and the weekend to maximise time off) has two public holidays on a Wednesday and a Friday and can therefore be turned into a five-day holiday by just taking one day of leave.

That means that overall in 2023, pretty much everybody in Spain will have at least 7 puentes to enjoy, and they will only have to take 3 days off in total from their annual leave to enjoy all of them. 

So apart from Spain’s public holidays and the differences in New Years’ and Easter holidays that we’ve covered above, what other regional holidays can residents in Spain look forward to?

Well, each region has at least its own specific holiday to celebrate its region and heritage, many of which fall on Mondays and Fridays, allowing for even more long weekends. 

Keep in mind that there are also festivos (holidays) in specific provinces, cities and towns and even islands, such as in the Canary Islands, where each island enjoys its own day off.

Spain’s regional holidays in 2023 are:

Andalusia: Tuesday February 28th (Andalusia Day)

Aragón: Monday April 24th (Aragón Day)

Asturias: Friday September 8th (Asturias Day)

Balearics: Wednesday March 1st (Balearics Day)

Canary Islands: Tuesday May 30th (Canaries Day)

Cantabria: Friday July 28th (Cantabria Day), Friday September 15th (La Bien Aparecida)

Castilla-La Mancha: Wednesday May 31st (Castilla-La Mancha Day), Thursday June 8th (Corpus Christi)

Castilla y León: Tuesday July 25th (Saint James Day)

Catalonia: Monday September 11th (Catalonia Day), Tuesday December 26h (San Esteban)

Madrid: Monday March 20th (San José Day), Tuesday May 2nd (Madrid Day)

Valencia region: October 9th (Valencia Day)

Extremadura: Tuesday February 21st (Carnival Tuesday), Friday September 8th (Extremadura Day)

Galicia: Wednesday May 17th (Galician Writing Day), Tuesday July 25th (Galicia Day)

La Rioja: Friday June 9th (La Rioja Day) 

Murcia: Friday June 9th (Murcia Day)

Navarre: Tuesday July 25th (Saint James Day)

Basque Country: Tuesday July 25th (Saint James Day)

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SPAIN AND THE US

Spain and the US sign new pensions and social security agreement

The Spanish government has made an agreement with the United States to improve pensions calculations and social security protections for workers who have worked and spent time between both countries.

Published: 9 April 2024 11:44 CEST
Spain and the US sign new pensions and social security agreement

Spain and the United States have signed a new agreement that improves the way in which pensions are calculated and extends social security protections for people who have lived and worked in both countries.

Spain’s Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, presented the agreement with U.S. Ambassador to Spain, Julissa Reynoso, at the formal signing on Monday.

The new deal updates the first bilateral agreement between the two countries, signed back in 1986 and in force since 1988.

Americans are increasingly moving to Spain to live, and the relaxed pace of life and relative affordability compared to many parts of the U.S. attracts pensioners in particular. In late 2022 there were 41,953 US nationals officially residing in Spain, according to Spain’s national statistics agency (INE).

READ ALSO: Where in Spain do all the Americans live in 2023?

The new deal will also benefit many of the hundreds of thousands of Spaniards living in the US. The United States is the third country in the world with most Spaniards living there, behind Argentina and France. As of 2023 there were 192,766 Spaniards living in the U.S, according to INE figures. 

At the signing, Saiz said that “thirty-six years after the signing of the first agreement, we are taking another step forward in promoting international labour mobility, which will undoubtedly be a powerful lever to continue stimulating our bilateral economic activity.”

The Minister emphasised that the deal will have an “impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers”. Among the changes, the new agreement allows for the easier application and implementation of social security benefits in the two countries, eliminates coverage duplication, provides relief from double taxation and avoids gaps in the social security system for many workers.

According to a government statement: “The main changes included in the new text effect, firstly, the calculation of Spanish social security pensions, which will be more beneficial. From now on, there will be two pension calculations. The first will be based solely on contributions in Spain, and the second will add the time contributed in the United States.”

After comparing the two calculations, the more favourable one will be paid. This benefits pensioners, the government says, because “until now, if you were entitled to a pension only with contributions in Spain, the benefit was paid without the second calculation being made by adding the contributions in the United States, even though it could have been higher.”

“In addition, the calculation of the regulatory base for benefits has been improved when contributions from Spain and the United States are added together, based on the actual contribution bases prior to the last working day in Spain.”

This will especially impact those who spent the latter part of their working lives in the United States.

The agreement also makes improvements for self-employed workers abroad, and extends the period for self-employed and employed workers posted abroad to 5 years, extendable by a further 2 years in exceptional circumstances and subject to authorisation by the relevant social security system.

It also includes civil service and military pension schemes in the scope of the agreement.

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