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.
Second school term ends Friday 8th April for Easter
Holidays.
Schools are also closed 28th February and 1st
March for the Carnaval holiday.
Third term begins Tuesday 19th April and ends on various dates in
June according to age.
In general the school year ends on 15th June.
The 2022 / 2023 school year will generally begin on Monday 12th
September.
Buses marked in the timetables as 'SCH'
(Schooldays) only operate during those periods, except obviously
not on public holidays.
Saturday 1st January - New Year's Day
Tuesday 1st March - Carnaval /Shrove Tuesday. Not an official
holiday but observed on most railway and bus routes, which run
to Sunday times.
Friday 15th April - Good Friday
Sunday 17th April - Easter Sunday ('Easter Monday' is not a
holiday in Portugal)
Monday 25th April - Liberation Day
Sunday 1st May - Labour Day
Friday 10th June - National or Portugal Day
Thursday 16th June - Corpus Christi
Monday 15th August - Assumption
Wednesday 5th October - Republic Day
Tuesday 1st November - All Saints
Thursday 1st December - Restoration of Independence Day
Thursday 8th December - Immaculate Conception
Sunday 25th December - Christmas Day
(26th December is not a holiday in Portugal.)
Sunday 1st January - New Year's Day
Tuesday 22nd February - Carnaval /Shrove Tuesday. Not an official
holiday but observed on most railway and bus routes, which run to
Sunday times.
Friday 7th April - Good Friday
Sunday 9th April - Easter Sunday ('Easter Monday' is not a holiday
in Portugal)
Tuesday 25th April - Liberation Day
Monday 1st May - Labour Day
Thursday 8th June - Corpus Christi
Saturday 10th June - National or Portugal Day
Tuesday 15th August - Assumption
Thursday 5th October - Republic Day
Wednesday 1st November - All Saints
Friday 1st December - Restoration of Independence Day
Friday 8th December - Immaculate Conception
Monday 25th December - Christmas Day
(26th December is not a holiday in Portugal.)
In addition to the national holidays, many cities and towns have
a local or municipal holiday. The 'Festa São João' is a big local
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 2022 and 2023
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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