# Festivos



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Has anyone come across a definitive list of Festivos/férias/fiestas, etc.? 

Apparently tomorrow is el día de San José, or San Pepe's day and a holiday in the village so all the local shops will be shut. No obvious reason for this.

Is there even a definitive list in existence? Last year one of the shops was giving out calendars on it was all the saints' days and the regional holidays and it was very useful. They haven't got them this year (?recession?)


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## lynn (Sep 25, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> Has anyone come across a definitive list of Festivos/férias/fiestas, etc.?
> 
> Apparently tomorrow is el día de San José, or San Pepe's day and a holiday in the village so all the local shops will be shut. No obvious reason for this.
> 
> Is there even a definitive list in existence? Last year one of the shops was giving out calendars on it was all the saints' days and the regional holidays and it was very useful. They haven't got them this year (?recession?)


My Spanish teacher told us that tomorrow is Father's day, and used to be a public holiday, but isn't anymore (except apparently in your village baldilocks)

Given the Spanish predilection for giving themselves any excuse for a day off and a party, I take the precaution of always having emergency supplies in cupboard/freezer should I get caught out! Once that has been taken care of, it makes sense to join in with the best of them:clap2:


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> Has anyone come across a definitive list of Festivos/férias/fiestas, etc.?
> 
> Apparently tomorrow is el día de San José, or San Pepe's day and a holiday in the village so all the local shops will be shut. No obvious reason for this.
> 
> Is there even a definitive list in existence? Last year one of the shops was giving out calendars on it was all the saints' days and the regional holidays and it was very useful. They haven't got them this year (?recession?)


It's Father's Day! The rotten thing up here is that in Pais Vasco (where I live) it's a day off but in Cantabria (where I work) it isn't. Family and friends are giving us a hard time about it. 

As for a definitive list, won't that depend hugely upon where you live? There have been a number of home/work festivos instances just like what's going to happen to me tomorrow.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

OK so Fathers' day but why a day off in this village and not in Alcalá la Real just 7 km down the road?

Out of interest do you know why José, and Josefa are called Pepe and Pepita respectively - it is because Joseph is the Padre ****tivo (****tive father) or PP = Pepe


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> OK so Fathers' day but why a day off in this village and not in Alcalá la Real just 7 km down the road?
> 
> Out of interest do you know why José, and Josefa are called Pepe and Pepita respectively - it is because Joseph is the Padre ****tivo (****tive father) or PP = Pepe




...it's clear that your town is better than Alcalá la Real. Hurrah for the people who USE the excuse for a day off to take it off!!! Silly Cantabria...


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## Caz.I (Mar 21, 2009)

There is usually a list of national holidays (and sometimes provincial ones) at the front of Spanish diaries or on Spanish calendars. I usually check the town hall website for local holidays but of course smaller towns may not have such a thing.

The first autumn I was here there seemed to be endless bank holidays and I was caught out every time. To make matters worse, that particular year, it always seemed to be raining on the bank holidays so I had no food and miserable weather! 

Caz.I


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

baldilocks said:


> Has anyone come across a definitive list of Festivos/férias/fiestas, etc.?
> 
> Apparently tomorrow is el día de San José, or San Pepe's day and a holiday in the village so all the local shops will be shut. No obvious reason for this.
> 
> Is there even a definitive list in existence? Last year one of the shops was giving out calendars on it was all the saints' days and the regional holidays and it was very useful. They haven't got them this year (?recession?)


This is the low down on holidays!

There are 14 holiday days a year

11 are national
1 is chosen by the comunidad
2 are chosen by the local ayuntamiento
In theory the town hall will be able to inform you of the dates in advance. The problem is just how much in advance do you want to know???
There are usually one or two dates a year when you're just not sure who has a holiday and who not. For example the 9th of November is a holiday in Madrid, but Madrid city, not Madrid comunidad. Many nearby towns or maybe just individual companies make that one of their days off too, as many of their workers come from the city and there may be problems with children not having school, buses, trains etc Or you may go to a nearby town to find it's "en fiestas" whereas your town isn't. The free calendars are good, but often don't have local holidays marked.
Tomorrow 10 comunidades are on holiday I think and Madrid is one of them!!:clap2:


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

calendario laboral


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

baldilocks said:


> OK so Fathers' day but why a day off in this village and not in Alcalá la Real just 7 km down the road?
> 
> Out of interest do you know why José, and Josefa are called Pepe and Pepita respectively - it is because Joseph is the Padre ****tivo (****tive father) or PP = Pepe


Different regions/towns/villages celebrate different saints - it's as simple as that.

San Jose is a massive celebration in the Valencia region (where I live), but nothing much actually happens in my town - although the shops are shut. In Denia, the next town north of us there are big celebrations.

When we first came here someone told me that every day is a saint's day in Spain, so potentially a fiesta day - so it's a good job everyone doesn't celebrate every saint's day!

Yes, that's exactly why


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Pesky Wesky said:


> This is the low down on holidays!
> 
> There are 14 holiday days a year
> 
> ...


I always just look at the Mercadona website. If my local one is shut, then for sure everything else will be!!


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