Public holidays in Portugal

InPortugal,apublic holiday(Portuguese:feriado) is acalendar date,legally recognised and defined in theLabour Codeas well as theConcordat of 2004,on which most businesses and non-essential services are closed. On some of these dates, public commemorative festivities are traditionally held.

Public holidays in Portugal are a mixture of select religious (Roman Catholic) observances and days that have national historical or cultural significance. These dates have changed over time: currently, there are 13 mandatory holidays and one optional (Carnival) that has to be specifically designated as a day off work (Portuguese:tolerância de ponto) each year by government decree (for public servants) or companies (for private sector). Specific dates may alternatively be observed only atregionormunicipallevel. Collective bargaining can specify that optional holidays are observed always and are also free for agreeing other dates that the specific company or sector agrees to observe as a holiday (e.g. bank holidays).

Public holidays in Portugal

Date	Englishname	Portuguesename	Notes	Continental Portugal	Autonomous Regions of Portugal
moveable	Municipal holiday	Feriado Municipal	Public holiday established by each municipality, limited to its own territory, in general to celebrate the patron saint of the municipality, or the date of the establishment of the municipal autonomy	Y	Y	Y
1 January	New Year's Day	Ano Novo		Y	Y	Y
moveable	Carnival	Carnaval	Carnival in Portugalis an annualfestival,that ends onShrove Tuesday(called Fat Tuesday in Madeira - Terça-feira Gorda inPortuguese) the day beforeAsh Wednesday(first day of Lent). This is an optional holiday, although it is usually observed. 47 days before Easter Sunday.	Y	Y	Y
moveable	Good Friday	Sexta-feira Santa	Friday beforeEaster Sunday.Last observed 29 March 2024	Y	Y	Y
moveable	Easter Sunday	Domingo de Páscoa	Last observed 31 March 2024	Y	Y	Y
25 April	Freedom Day	Dia da Liberdade	Celebrates the1974 coup d'étatthat ended theEstado Novogovernment and established thePortuguese Third Republic.	Y	Y	Y
1 May	Labour Day	Dia do Trabalhador	Similar toLabor Daycelebrated worldwide.	Y	Y	Y
moveable	Corpus Christi	Corpo de Deus	Thursday, date varies. 60 days afterEaster Sunday.It isreligionbased. Last observed 30 May 2024	Y	Y	Y
moveable	Autonomous Region of Azores Day(Whit Monday)	Dia da Região Autónoma dos Açores Dia da Pombinha Dia do Bodo	Only celebrated inAzores.			Y
10 June	Portugal Day	Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas	National Day.Commemorates the death of national poetLuís de Camõesin 1580.	Y	Y	Y
1 July	Autonomous Region of Madeira and Madeiran Communities Day	Dia da Região Autónoma da Madeira e das Comunidades Madeirenses	Only celebrated inMadeira.		Y
15 August	Assumption Day	Assunção de Nossa Senhora	A religious account of the taking up of Mary into heaven.	Y	Y	Y
5 October	Republic Day	Implantação da República	Celebrates theend of Monarchyand the beginning of thePortuguese Republic.	Y	Y	Y
1 November	All Saints Day	Dia de Todos-os-Santos	In terms of Western Christian theology, the feast commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in heaven.	Y	Y	Y
1 December	Restoration of Independence	Restauração da Independência	Celebrates the end of thePhilippine Dynasty(1580–1640).	Y	Y	Y
8 December	Immaculate Conception	Imaculada Conceição	According toRoman Catholic Dogma,the conception of theVirgin Marywithout any stain of original sin.	Y	Y	Y
25 December	Christmas Day	Natal		Y	Y	Y
26 December	1st Octave	Primeira Oitava	Only celebrated inMadeira.–Primeira Oitavais part of Madeira's centuries old Christmas celebrations which has been recognized as public holidayby theRegional Government of Madeira,celebrating the second day of the week leading up to New Year's Day.		Y
Total holidays				15	17	16

Revoked holidays in 2013–2015

In 2012, the Coalition government ofPedro Passos Coelhocontroversially revoked four holidays – two civilian holidays (Republic Day and Restoration of Independence) and two religious ones (Corpus Christi and All Saints Day). The move was effective from 2013 onwards and was presented as a measure to increase productivity, in the context of the2011–2014 Troika bailout to Portugal(even though that measure was never requested by the Memorandum of Understanding). Public debate and re-evaluation were scheduled in 2018 for the religious holidays.

The four holidays were eventually restored by the government ofAntónio Costa,in January 2016.

Local holidays

According to a Decree of 12 October 1910,municipalitieswere given the possibility of choosing a day that would represent their traditional festivals.

Date	Englishname	Portuguesename	Notes
15 January	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inSanta Cruz.
20 January	Municipal Holiday	Dia do S. Sebastião	Celebrated inSanta Maria da Feira, Aveiro.
22 January	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inSão Vicente.
18 February	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inValença.
19 March	Saint Joseph's Day	Dia de São José	Celebrated inSantarém.
11 April	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inLagoa.The date was chosen because the locality was made town by Royal Charter of 11 April 1522.
23 April	Saint George's Day	Dia de São Jorge.	Celebrated inVelas.The date was chosen due to the fact that this locality celebrates Saint George's Day since 1460.
moveable	Easter Monday	Segunda-feira de Páscoa	Celebrated inAvis,Borba,Caminha,Campo Maior,Cuba,Freixo de Espada à Cinta,Ílhavo,Mação,Mora,Penamacor,Ponte de Sor,Portel,Redondo,Castelo de Vide,Constância,Crato,NisaandSousel.1 Aprilin 2024.
moveable	Ascension of Jesus	Quinta-feira da Ascensão	Celebrated inAlcanena,Alenquer,Almeirim,Alter do Chão,Alvito,Anadia,Ansião,Arraiolos,Arruda dos Vinhos,Azambuja,Beja,Benavente,Cartaxo,Chamusca,Estremoz,Golegã,Loulé,Mafra,Marinha Grande,Mealhada,Melgaço,Monchique,Mortágua,Oliveira do Bairro,Quarteira,Salvaterra de Magos,Santa Comba Dão,Sobral de Monte Agraço,Torres Novas,VidigueiraandVila Franca de Xira.
Fifth Sunday after Easter (moveable)	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inPonta Delgada.
25 May	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inSantana.The date was chosen because it is anniversary of the date of elevation the village and seat of county in the year 1835.
13 June	St. Anthony's Day	Dia de Santo António	Celebrated inLisbonwhere on theAvenida da Liberdade,there are theMarchas,a parade of folklore and costumes from the city's different traditional quarters, with hundreds of singers and dancers and a vast audience applauding their favorite participants. As St Anthony is the matchmaker saint, it is still the tradition inLisbonto celebrate multiple marriages (200 to 300).
16 June	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inOlhão.The date was chosen because it marks the start of the Olhão's revolt against the Napoleonic troops.
20 June	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inCorvo.The date was chosen because it is the anniversary of the town.
24 June	St. John's Day	Dia de São João	Celebrated inPorto,Braga,Figueira da Foz,Almada,Calheta,Porto Santo,Angra do Heroísmo,Horta,Santa Cruz da Graciosa,Santa Cruz das Flores,Vila do PortoandVila Franca do Campo(as a Municipal Holiday). PortoandBragacelebrate with a big festival and fireworks over the RiverDouro(inPorto) and down Avenida da Liberdade (inBraga). Across the country a traditional midsummer bonfire is also built and following an ancient pagan tradition, revelers try to jump over the bonfire, this in order to gain protection during the rest of the year.
29 June	St. Peter's Day	Dia de São Pedro	Celebrated inAlfândega da Fé,Bombarral,Castro Daire,Castro Verde,Évora,Felgueiras,Macedo de Cavaleiros,Montijo,Penedono,Porto de Mós,Póvoa de Varzim,Ribeira Brava,Ribeira Grande,São Pedro do Sul,SeixalandSintra. Just like St. Anthony's Day and St. John's Day, St. Peter's Day is celebrated with a traditional midsummer bonfire, where people jumps over and perform a tradition known as "Queimar a Alcachofra" (Burn theArtichoke) which symbolizes the "Good Which Fulfill".
4 July	St.Elizabeth's Day	Dia de Santa Isabel	Celebrated inCoimbra
Third Monday of July (moveable)	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inLajes das Flores.
18 July	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inNordeste.This date was chosen because the locality was made town by Royal Charter of 18 July 1514.
22 July	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inPorto MonizandMadalena.
26 July	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inLoures.This date was chosen because the locality was made municipal seat on 26 July 1886, replacingOlivaisas the seat of the municipality.
11 August	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inPraia da Vitória.The date was chosen because it is the anniversary of the battle (11 August 1829) that prevented the royalists from reaching land during thePortuguese Civil War.
16 August	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inSão Roque do Pico.
20 August	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inViana do Castelo.
21 August	Funchal City Day	Dia da Cidade do Funchal	Celebrated inFunchal.Anniversary of the date in which, in 1508, and byRoyal Charter,the town of Funchal was elevated to the category of city.
8 September	Nativity of Mary	Natividade de Nossa Senhora	Celebrated inLagoa,Alcoutim,Ponta do Sol,Lamego,Mangualde,Marco de Canaveses,Marvão,Montemor-o-Velho,Murtosa,Nazaré,Odemira,OuriqueandSabrosa.
21 September	St. Matthew's Day	Dia de São Mateus	Celebrated inViseu,andElvas
Monday after the first the Sunday of September (moveable)	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inPovoação.
4 October	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrate inCâmara de Lobos.The date was chosen because on 4 October 1835 the first electoral act took place, the swearing-in ceremony and inauguration of the first mayor of Câmara de Lobos and his respective council.
9 October	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inMachico.This is date on which the annual pilgrimage to theLord of Miraclestakes place, and the anniversary of the date in 1803 of which the most severe natural calamity that occurred on the island of Madeira since its settlement: an alluvium which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people.
19 November	Municipal Holiday	Dia do Concelho	Celebrated inOdivelasandTrofa.This date was chosen because both localities were made municipal seats on 19 November 1998, becoming autonomous from the municipalities ofLouresandSanto Tirso,respectively.
25 November	Saint Catherine's Day	Dia de Santa Catarina	Celebrated inCalheta.The date was chosen because since times immemorial it is on this day that this locality celebrates theFeast of Saint Catherine.

External links

• Religious Festivals in Madeira 2014
• Madeira Events 2014