Saint James’s Day

Saint James’s Day sits within Spain’s layered labour calendar, which combines national holidays, choices made by the seventeen autonomous communities and Ceuta and Melilla, and two local holidays selected municipally. Paid labour holidays are non-recoverable and normally cannot exceed fourteen each year, including the two local dates. New Year’s Day, Labour Day, October 12 and Christmas Day must be respected nationally; other national dates can be substituted or shifted under the statutory framework, so a label must reflect the official calendar for the relevant year and territory.

The Ministry of Labour publishes the consolidated annual table in the Boletín Oficial del Estado after receiving each territorial calendar. A Sunday clash is generally transferred to the following Monday, but autonomous communities may replace that Monday rest with one of their own traditional festivals. Spain therefore has no single rule that makes every familiar religious feast a day off everywhere. July 25 is legally interchangeable with Saint Joseph’s Day and is most closely associated with Galicia and Santiago de Compostela. Travellers and employers should still check the autonomous-community and municipal calendars rather than infer closures from a nationwide name alone.