A puente (Spanish for bridge) is a holiday in Spain. It is the day off to bridge the time between the weekend and a holiday, thereby creating a long weekend. A puente typically occurs when a holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, workers will then take the Monday or Friday as a puente, a day off. [1] Some businesses will close down altogether. [2]
In 2012, the Spanish government led by Mariano Rajoy, as it was faced with the eurozone crisis, initiated measures to move public holidays to Mondays and Fridays. The aim of the measure was to avoid puentes. Gayle Allard, an economist at IE Business School has said that the measure can improve productivity. [1] The Spanish Catholic Church opposed the measure, which would shuffle the day of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. [2]
December | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
In 2022, the December holidays were 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, 26, 31 and 1 January 2023 | ||||||
2022 |
In some years, such as 2022, December 6 (Constitution Day) falls on a Tuesday and December 8 (feast of the Immaculate Conception) falls on a Thursday. Thus, a period of 9 consecutive days has only three work days. Some workers take a very long weekend by asking just one, two or three days off. Such multiple puentes are sometimes called acueductos ("aqueducts", keeping the metaphor) [3] or macropuentes ("macro-bridges") [4]
A common year starting on Sunday is any non-leap year that begins on Sunday, 1 January, and ends on Sunday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is A. The most recent year of such kind was 2023 and the next one will be 2034 in the Gregorian calendar, or, likewise, 2018 and 2029 in the obsolete Julian calendar, see below for more.
A common year starting on Friday is any non-leap year that begins on Friday, 1 January, and ends on Friday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is C. The most recent year of such kind was 2021 and the next one will be 2027 in the Gregorian calendar, or, likewise, 2022 and 2033 in the obsolete Julian calendar, see below for more. This common year is one of the three possible common years in which a century year can begin on, and occurs in century years that yield a remainder of 100 when divided by 400. The most recent such year was 1700 and the next one will be 2100.
A common year starting on Monday is any non-leap year that begins on Monday, 1 January, and ends on Monday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is G. The most recent year of such kind was 2018 and the next one will be 2029 in the Gregorian calendar, or likewise, 2019 and 2030 in the Julian calendar, see below for more. This common year is one of the three possible common years in which a century year can begin on and occurs in century years that yield a remainder of 300 when divided by 400. The most recent such year was 1900 and the next one will be 2300.
These are the public holidays observed in Ireland. Public holidays in Ireland may commemorate a special day or other event, such as Saint Patrick's Day or Christmas Day. On public holidays, most businesses and schools close. Other services, for example, public transport, still operate but often with reduced schedules.
In the Catholic Church, holy days of obligation or precepts are days on which the faithful are expected to attend Mass, and engage in rest from work and recreation, according to the third commandment.
A leap year starting on Sunday is any year with 366 days that begins on Sunday, 1 January, and ends on Monday, 31 December. Its dominical letters hence are AG. The most recent year of such kind was 2012 and the next one will be 2040 in the Gregorian calendar or, likewise 2024 and 2052 in the obsolete Julian calendar.
A common year starting on Tuesday is any non-leap year that begins on Tuesday, 1 January, and ends on Tuesday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is F. The most recent year of such kind was 2019 and the next one will be 2030, or, likewise, 2014 and 2025 in the obsolete Julian calendar, see below for more.
A leap year starting on Monday is any year with 366 days that begins on Monday, 1 January, and ends on Tuesday, 31 December. Its dominical letters hence are GF. The current year, 2024, is a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar. The last such year was 1996 and the next such year will be 2052 in the Gregorian calendar or, likewise, 2008 and 2036 in the obsolete Julian calendar.
A common year starting on Saturday is any non-leap year that begins on Saturday, 1 January, and ends on Saturday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is B. The most recent year of such kind was 2022 and the next one will be 2033 in the Gregorian calendar or, likewise, 2023 and 2034 in the obsolete Julian calendar. See below for more.
A common year starting on Thursday is any non-leap year that begins on Thursday, 1 January, and ends on Thursday, 31 December. Its dominical letter hence is D. The most recent year of such kind was 2015 and the next one will be 2026 in the Gregorian calendar or, likewise, 2021 and 2027 in the obsolete Julian calendar, see below for more.
A leap year starting on Saturday is any year with 366 days that begins on Saturday, 1 January, and ends on Sunday, 31 December. Its dominical letters hence are BA. The most recent year of such kind was 2000 and the next one will be 2028 in the Gregorian calendar or, likewise 2012 and 2040 in the obsolescent Julian calendar. In the Gregorian calendar, years divisible by 400 are always leap years starting on Saturday. The most recent such occurrence was 2000 and the next one will be 2400, see below for more.
A leap year starting on Thursday is any year with 366 days that begins on Thursday 1 January, and ends on Friday 31 December. Its dominical letters hence are DC. The most recent year of such kind was 2004 and the next one will be 2032 in the Gregorian calendar or, likewise, 2016 and 2044 in the obsolete Julian calendar.
A long weekend is a weekend that is at least three days long, due to a public or unofficial holiday occurring on either the following Monday or preceding Friday.
Public holidays in Italy are established by the Italian parliament and, with the exception of city or community patronal days, apply nationwide. These include a mix of national, religious and local observances. As for Whit Monday, there is an exception for South Tyrol. In Italy there are also State commemoration days, which are not public holidays.
In the United Kingdom, public holidays are days on which most businesses and non-essential services are closed. Many retail businesses do open on some of the public holidays. There are restrictions on trading on Sundays, Easter and Christmas Day in England and Wales and on New Year's Day and Christmas Day in Scotland. Public holidays defined by statute are called "bank holidays", but this term can also be used to include common law holidays, which are held by convention. The term "public holidays" can refer exclusively to common law holidays.
Public holidays celebrated in Spain include a mix of religious, national and regional observances. Each municipality is allowed to have a maximum of 14 public holidays per year; a maximum of nine of these are chosen by the national government and at least two are chosen locally, including patronal festivals.
Colombia has 18 holidays, plus Palm and Easter Sunday. The city of Barranquilla has 2 extra holidays celebrating Monday and Tuesday of Carnival.
Lists of holidays by various categorizations.