A list of public
holidays in Portugal. From various sources!
Holidays are always observed on the day they fall
and are not moved to a convenient Monday as in the UK.
Buses and trains run to Sunday/Holiday timetables on public
holidays. They do run on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
On Christmas Eve December 24th and New Year's Eve December 31st businesses and shops close early, around 6 or 7pm. On Christmas Eve virtually everything closes early including bars and restaurants. Some late-evening buses and trains (especially long-distance services) will not run. This information is announced in detail only about two weeks beforehand.
Major malls and supermarkets are usually open all day on public and religious holidays, except on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, when they remain closed. Some may also close on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and May 1st. You will need to check locally and/or nearer the time.
In tourist areas, smaller shops usually stay open
all day except some will close on Good Friday and / or Easter
Sunday. On Christmas Day and New Year's Day shops are closed. Many
small shops in the villages and of course all post offices and
banks observe the holidays strictly.
Buses marked in the timetables as 'SCH' (Schooldays) only operate during those periods, except on public holidays as below.
School dates for 2024 - 2025 are as follows ;
12th September until 17th December. Christmas and
New Year Holidays 18th December until 3rd January
4th January until 4th April EXCEPT 3rd, 4th and 5th March when
schools are closed for Carnaval.
7th April until 23rd April Easter Holidays
24th April until 27th June, school year ends. 2025 - 2026 school
year begins 10th September 2025..
Universities the same except Christmas holiday
begins 23rd December and there is a shorter Easter break from 14th
April to 18th April, resuming on the 21st.
There may be small variations for local festivals
etc. This is the general pattern every year. Exact dates in other
regions may vary.
Wednesday 1st January - New Year's Day
Tuesday 4th March - Carnaval /Shrove Tuesday. Not an official
holiday but observed on most railway and bus routes, which run to
Sunday times. Schools are closed.
Friday 18th April - Good Friday
Sunday 20th April - Easter Sunday ('Easter Monday' is not a
holiday in mainland Portugal)
Friday 25th April - Liberation Day
Thursday 1st May - Labour Day
Tuesday 10th June - National or Portugal Day
Thursday 19th June - Corpus Christi
Friday 15th August - Assumption
Sunday 5th October - Republic Day
Saturday 1st November - All Saints
Monday 1st December - Restoration of Independence Day
Monday 8th December - Immaculate Conception
Thursday 25th December - Christmas Day
(26th December is not a holiday in mainland Portugal.)
Thursday 1st January 2026 - New Year's Day
In addition to the national holidays, many cities and towns have
a local or municipal holiday. Local buses may run to Sunday times
or not at all. The 'Festa São João' is a big event in Lisbon and
Porto, around the 23rd June each year. These events can affect
local transport.
Cross border travel may be affected as may local travel in
Spain. Do check before making firm plans. In particular, some of
the cross border buses (coaches) between Seville, the Algarve
region and Lisbon do NOT operate on December 25th and January 1st.
They do operate on most other major holidays.
Spanish Public Holidays 2025
For a list of all the timetables on the site,
click here
For an alphabetical list of places in the Algarve, click here
For some important general notes about buses in the Algarve, click
here
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