Is September 11 a holiday throughout Catalonia? What closes for the Diada

In an autonomous community like Catalonia, the official calendar of paid public holidays (paid and non-recoverable holidays) is not usually approved through a classic parliamentary procedure, but rather through executive acts (autonomous government and, at the state level, Ministry of Labor). The Parliament only comes into play when framework laws regulating the general regime of holidays or the protection of festive heritage are approved, but not in the annual setting of the specific calendar.

1. General framework: distribution of competences

The basic regime of labor holidays throughout the State is published each year through resolutions of the Directorate General of Labor of the competent Ministry. For example, the Resolution of October 23, 2023, from the Directorate General of Labor, publishes the list of labor holidays for 2024 at the state level, including national holidays and those corresponding to the autonomous communities (BOE).

On top of this basic framework, each autonomous community has some leeway to set a certain number of regional holidays (in addition to local holidays, agreed with municipalities). The way to decide those days and approve the calendar is specified in their own internal regulations.

2. Role of the autonomous Parliament: framework laws and festive heritage

When the community wants to regulate in a stable way aspects such as:

• The definition and protection of traditional festivals.
• The creation of catalogs of festive heritage.
• General criteria on popular culture and festivals.

it usually does so through laws or legislative decrees that do follow the ordinary parliamentary procedure: initiative (from the Government or groups), processing in committee, amendments, debate and vote in plenary, and subsequent sanction and publication.

In Catalonia, for example, the Decree 389/2006, on the festive heritage of Catalonia, develops previous laws on cultural heritage and popular culture and creates the Catalog of the Festive Heritage of Catalonia, regulating categories such as “traditional festival of national interest” or “heritage festival of national interest” and the declaration procedure by the Government (Legal Portal). These rules are based on laws approved by the Parliament, but their object is heritage and cultural, not the annual setting of the labor calendar.

3. Annual approval of the holiday calendar: essentially an executive procedure

The year-to-year setting of labor holidays in an autonomous community is usually done through:

• An agreement of the autonomous Government (Consell de Govern / Government of the Generalitat) that determines which days are declared regional holidays.
• Its formalization through a decree or order of the competent department (usually Labor or Business and Labor), which is published in the official autonomous bulletin.

In Catalonia, a similar pattern is observed in related regulations, for example the orders that set the opening calendar on Sundays and holidays for commercial establishments, such as ORDER EMC/117/2021, of May 25, which establishes the opening calendar on Sundays and holidays for 2022 and 2023 (Legal Portal). These orders are issued by the relevant minister, after deliberation by the Government, and are published directly in the Official Journal, without Parliament intervention.

The regional calendar of labor holidays follows a very similar logic:

• Negotiation or consultation with social agents (unions and employers) within the scope of autonomous social dialogue.
• Technical proposal from the competent department.
• Approval by the Government and publication of the regulation (resolution, decree or order).

Subsequently, that list of regional holidays is communicated to the State for inclusion in the annual resolution that publishes the labor calendar for the whole country.

4. What “parliamentary procedures” are there, then?

From a strictly parliamentary point of view, in a community like Catalonia:

• The specific annual calendar of holidays is not voted on in Parliament; it is the Government's competence and is normatively articulated from the Executive.
• The Parliament can, however, politically influence through:
  • Non-legislative proposals or motions urging the Government to set certain days.
  • Political orientation debates or questions to the Government about the labor calendar.
• Only when intending to change the general legal framework (for example, a law on festive heritage, popular culture, or regulation of working hours and rest in the autonomous scope) is the ordinary legislative procedure described by the Parliament itself followed: initiative, amendments, committee, plenary, and publication.

In summary: in Catalonia and in the rest of the autonomous communities, Parliament sets the major rules and principles through laws, but the annual approval of the official holiday calendar is an Executive act, without a specific parliamentary procedure beyond ordinary political oversight.

The setting of labor holidays in Spain is based on a mixed scheme: the State establishes the general framework and a minimum core of common holidays, while the autonomous communities and municipalities have some leeway to adapt the calendar to their traditions. This balance is mainly defined by the Workers' Statute and by article 45 of Royal Decree 2001/1983, of July 28, as amended by Royal Decree 1346/1989.

Basic state framework: holiday cap and common core

Article 37.2 of the Workers' Statute (Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of October 23, consolidated text of the WS) sets the general rules:

• Labor holidays, paid and non-recoverable, cannot exceed 14 per year.
• Of those 14, two are local.
• In any case, the following must be respected as national holidays: Christmas Day (December 25), New Year's Day (January 1), May 1 (Labor Day), and October 12 (National Day of Spain).
• The Government may move national holidays that fall on weekdays to Monday, and always moves to Monday the rest of those that coincide with Sunday.

That is, the State reserves a minimum core of four "untouchable" national holidays that all autonomous communities must respect and sets an annual maximum of 14 paid and non-recoverable holidays.

Specific regulation: article 45 of Royal Decree 2001/1983

The specific system is developed in article 45 of Royal Decree 2001/1983 on working hours and rest, modified by Royal Decree 1346/1989. This provision:

• Lists the national holidays (civic and religious) that, in principle, make up the common calendar.
• Allows that when one falls on a Sunday, the rest is enjoyed the following Monday.
• Explicitly recognizes an active role for the autonomous communities in configuring the calendar.

What autonomous communities can do

From the combination of the Workers' Statute and article 45 of Royal Decree 2001/1983, these main autonomous competences arise:

• Choose among certain alternative national holidays. Article 45 allows each community to opt, in its territory, between some alternative festivities (for example, between Saint Joseph and Saint James the Apostle) to incorporate them as labor holidays.
• Establish their own traditional holidays within the limit of 14 annual holidays. Communities can designate holidays that are traditionally their own, substituting certain national holidays determined by regulation and, in any case, those that the State has moved to Monday.
• Move some holidays to Monday according to the same power the State has, using the authority that article 37.2 WS and article 45 recognize to organize the calendar, always without exceeding the limit of 14 days.
• Add, in exceptional cases, an extra recoverable holiday. If in a specific year a community cannot set one of its traditional holidays because not enough national holidays fall on Sunday, it can add one more holiday, of a recoverable nature, nominally exceeding 14 days, but with the obligation to recover the working day.
• Determine, approve and annually send their list of holidays. Article 45 provides that communities send each year to the competent Ministry the list of their traditional holidays (and the options exercised) before a deadline (historically, September 30), for joint publication in the BOE.
• Channel the setting of local holidays. Although the two local holidays are normally proposed by the town councils, the approval and inclusion in the labor calendar are articulated through the autonomous community, which exercises the execution competence in labor matters.

What autonomous communities cannot do

Since labor legislation is reserved to the State (article 149.1.7ª of the Constitution) and the Constitutional Court has ruled in STC 7/1985 on this matter, the autonomous margin is limited:

• They cannot exceed the maximum of 14 paid and non-recoverable holidays per year (except for the specific case of the additional recoverable holiday provided in the regulation).
• They cannot eliminate the four mandatory national holidays (December 25, January 1, May 1, and October 12).
• They cannot alter on their own the paid and non-recoverable nature of holidays set by basic state legislation.
• They cannot unilaterally modify the general regime of weekly rest or working hours set by the Workers' Statute.

In summary, the State defines the common framework, the maximum number of holidays, and a core of mandatory national holidays. Within that framework, autonomous communities have significant leeway to adapt the calendar to their traditions (choice among certain national holidays, substitution by their own festivities, setting regional and local holidays), but always respecting the limit of 14 days and the basic national holidays.

In Catalonia, municipalities set their local holidays within a basic state framework (Workers' Statute and labor calendar regulations) and Catalan autonomous regulation (annual orders of the Generalitat on the official calendar of labor holidays). The essential point is that they can only declare up to two paid and non-recoverable local holidays, of a traditional nature, and these must be approved and published in the competent official journals.

1. Basic state framework applicable in Catalonia

Article 37.2 of the Workers' Statute (consolidated text approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015) establishes that:

• Paid and non-recoverable labor holidays cannot exceed 14 per year, “of which two will be local”.
• The following must always be respected as national holidays: Christmas, New Year's Day, May 1 (Labor Day), and October 12 (National Day of Spain).
• Autonomous communities, within that maximum of 14 days, can designate their own holidays substituting some national ones and, in certain cases, add one more holiday of a recoverable nature.

On the other hand, Royal Decree 2001/1983, of July 28, on working hours and rest, develops this regime. The Resolution of the Directorate General of Labor that publishes the state and autonomous labor holidays (for example, the Resolution of October 23, 2023 on the 2024 holidays, BOE-A-2023-22014 ) recalls that:

• In addition to the 12 national and autonomous holidays, article 46 of Royal Decree 2001/1983 provides for up to 2 local holidays per municipality, also paid, non-recoverable, and non-working.
• These local holidays will be “those that by tradition are typical in each municipality”.
• It is expressly provided that “they will be published in the official bulletin of the autonomous community or, where appropriate, in the official bulletin of the corresponding province”.

2. Catalan autonomous framework

In Catalonia, the Generalitat approves each year the official calendar of labor holidays through an order of the department competent in labor matters. For example, for 2023, note 2 of the Resolution on 2023 labor holidays in the BOE cites the Order EMT/81/2022, of April 21, “which establishes the official calendar of labor holidays in Catalonia for 2023”, published in the DOGC.

Broadly speaking, these annual orders of the Generalitat:

• Set the national and autonomous holidays that apply throughout Catalonia for a specific year.
• Incorporate what is provided in the Workers' Statute and Royal Decree 2001/1983 (maximum number of 14 holidays, state reservations, etc.).
• Serve as a reference framework within which municipalities can complete the labor calendar with their own local holidays.

Additionally, in some specific territories of Catalonia (such as the Aran Valley) there are specific provisions on fixed and substitute holidays, cited in the same state resolution, which nuance the general regime but maintain the basic scheme of national, autonomous, and local holidays.

3. Requirements that Catalan municipalities must meet

Within this framework, the main legal requirements for a Catalan municipality to establish its local holidays are:

• Maximum number: only up to two local holidays per year can be declared as paid and non-recoverable labor holidays, in accordance with article 37.2 of the Workers' Statute and article 46 of Royal Decree 2001/1983.
• Traditional nature: they must be holidays “that by tradition are typical in each municipality”, which usually includes patron saint festivals, historic fairs, pilgrimages, rooted civic celebrations, etc.
• No duplication: the chosen dates cannot coincide with holidays already listed in the official calendar of labor holidays of Catalonia (national or autonomous), because these are already holidays throughout the territory.
• Municipal approval: the choice of local holiday days must be adopted through the formal decision-making procedure of the municipality itself (usually agreement of the plenary body or competent municipal body).
• Communication to the Generalitat: the municipal agreement must be communicated to the labor department of the Generalitat, for its incorporation into the labor calendar. Although each annual order may set its own deadlines, in practice it is required that the proposal be sent with sufficient advance notice regarding the year to which the holidays refer.
• Official publication: once collected by the Generalitat, the local holidays of each municipality:
  • Are published in the DOGC (or, where appropriate, in the official provincial bulletin), as provided in article 46 of Royal Decree 2001/1983, as recalled by the state Resolution on 2024 labor holidays.
  • Are integrated into the overall information sent to the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, which in turn publishes it in the BOE through the annual resolution of labor holidays.

4. Practical guide for a Catalan municipality

Operationally, a municipality that wants to correctly set its local holidays in Catalonia should:

• Review the annual order of the Generalitat that establishes the official calendar of labor holidays in Catalonia for the corresponding year.
• Select up to two days of strong local rooting that do not coincide with holidays already labor holidays of national or autonomous scope.
• Adopt a formal municipal agreement designating those dates as local labor holidays.
• Communicate the agreement to the Generalitat within the deadlines set each year by autonomous regulations.
• Verify, once the calendar is published, that the municipality's local holidays are properly listed in the DOGC (and, where appropriate, in the provincial bulletin and in the BOE resolution on labor holidays).

By fulfilling these requirements, the municipality ensures that its local holidays are validly integrated into the labor calendar of Catalonia and are fully enforceable against companies and workers in the municipality.