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Why isn’t Ascension Day a public holiday in Spain?

Spain is still a rather religious country, so why isn't Ascension Day a public holiday here?

Published: 17 May 2023 17:27 CEST
Updated: 9 May 2024 09:35 CEST

Why isn't Ascension Day a public holiday in Spain?

A Spanish priest celebrates mass at the Colegiata de Santa Maria la Mayor in Ronda. Photo: JORGE GUERRERO/AFP.

Thursday 9th May 2024 is Ascension Day, the day many Christians believe commemorates the ascension of Christ to heaven, following 40 days of preaching after his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

This means that it doesn’t always fall on May 9th, rather it changes each year depending on when Easter is.

According to Christian tradition, Ascension Day celebrates the day Jesus ascended into heaven at Bethany or the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem. It is celebrated across all branches of Christianity on the sixth Thursday after Easter. That doesn’t mean it is a public holiday everywhere, however.

In many parts of Europe, it is a public holiday, including the Benelux countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, as well as France, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland. Certain parts of Switzerland also have a day off.

READ ALSO: Calendar: When are Spain’s public holidays in 2023?

But in Spain, a country known for its religious festivities, it is not a public holiday and not really celebrated outside Mass.

Why is this?

Generally speaking, traditionally Catholic countries such as Spain don’t place such an emphasis on Ascension Day. Rather, many Roman Catholic countries, such as Poland, Italy, and Hungary, as well as Spain, tend to celebrate the ascension on the Sunday before Pentecost and view the Assumption of Mary (Asunción de la Virgen in Spanish) on August 15th as the more important celebration.

Asunción de la Virgen is a very Spanish Catholic tradition, when Roman Catholics commemorate the body and soul of the Virgin Mary, rather than her son Jesus, ascending to heaven.

READ ALSO: Why you should visit Barcelona’s quirky egg dancing festival

Asunción de la Virgen is a national holiday in Spain, and some parts of Spain also celebrate The Feast of Corpus Christi on June 11th with ornate carpets made of flowers or even dancing eggs, like in Barcelona.

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More foreigners and people living alone: What Spain will be like in the future

Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) has released a report revealing what the country will look like all the way up to 2074. The figures have been based on how the population will evolve if current demographic trends continue.

Spain’s population will grow by five million

Spain currently has 48,692,804 inhabitants, but this number is set to grow by an extra 5 million by 2039. It’s important to note that the growth will not be equal across the country, and will only focus on specific areas. Much of the country will continue to suffer from depopulation.

Catalonia and Madrid will be the two regions with the greatest growth, with nearly 1.2 million and one million respectively. The greatest relative increases, however, will be recorded in the Balearic Islands (19.0 percent), Valencia (19 percent ) and Murcia (17.2 percent).

On the other hand, the steepest declines will be seen in Asturias (-4.1 percent), Extremadura (-3.4 percent) and Castilla y León (-0.7 percent).

READ ALSO: Growing number of foreigners drives Spain’s population rise

28 percent of the population will be over 65

Spain’s population is growing older and older, and by 2042, 28 percent will be over age 65 compared to the current 20.4 percent. Fast forward to 2055, and this will reach 30.5 percent.

Six percent of the population of Spain has already turned 80, but in 2074 this will double, reaching 12.3 percent. And within 15 years the number of even older people will practically triple. Centenarians will exceed 46,000 compared to nearly 17,000 this year.

Birthrates will increase

Spain’s birthrate has been in decline over recent years, but starting this year, it will begin to grow until 2042. The data predicts that 5.5 million children will be born in the next 15 years, and the average number of children per woman will grow slightly, going from 1.16 registered this year to 1.24 in 2038.

In 2042, birthrates will begin to fall again, but from 2058 they will rise once more, due to more people having reached fertile ages. The number of births is also thought to be boosted by immigration, with more and more foreigners moving here and having children too.

But, the 5.5 million babies predicted to be born here between 2024 and 2038, will still be 8.7 less than those born in the previous 15 years.

Over a quarter of the population will have been born outside Spain

Spain’s population will not only grow thanks to increasing birthrates but more so because of the numbers of foreigners continuing to move here.

By 2039, the INE predicts that a total of 28.7 percent of the people living in Spain will have been born outside of the country. And by 2074 that figure will reach 39 percent.

This means the population born in Spain is set to gradually decrease, going from 81.9 percent today to 61 percent within 50 years.

READ ALSO: Spain needs 25 million foreign workers to keep its pensions afloat

7.7 million will live alone

It seems that Spaniards are increasingly choosing to live or will be forced to live on their own, with stats revealing that by 2039, one-third of households in the country will only be occupied by a single person.

This equates to 7.7 million single-person homes, compared to the current 5.4 million. In fact, in 2039 the most common type of household will be that of a single person – 33.5 percent of the total, ahead of the 31 percent of two-person households.

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