The countdown for the 2026-2027 school year has already begun. With September around the corner, millions of families are preparing for the return to the classrooms, but there is not a single date for all of Spain: each autonomous community establishes its own calendar and, within the same region, Early Childhood and Primary can start on a different day than Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, or Vocational Training.
The calendars approved in recent months also set the Christmas and Easter holidays and the end of classes. To these dates must be added later autonomous, local holidays, and days of free disposition, which can make two schools in the same community have some non-school day different.
Madrid will be one of the first to return to class
The Community of Madrid will start the school year on Monday September 7 for Early Childhood, Primary, and Special Education. One day later, on the 8th, students of Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, and Vocational Training will return. The Christmas holidays will run from December 23 to January 10 and Easter, from March 19 to 29.
The Basque Country will also start soon, with Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary Education, and Baccalaureate from September 7, while Catalonia and Aragon set the bulk of the return for the 8th. In Catalonia, however, a good part of the initial Vocational Training of intermediate and higher degree will begin on September 14.
Andalusia and Castilla y León delay part of the return
In Andalusia, the second cycle of Early Childhood, Primary, and Special Education will begin on September 10, while Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, and Vocational Training will do so on the 15th. The calendar may incorporate small provincial and local differences; in the official calendar of Cádiz, for example, Christmas extends from December 23 to January 8 and Easter from March 22 to 28.
A similar difference appears in Castilla y León, where Early Childhood and Primary will begin on September 9, while Secondary, Baccalaureate, and Vocational Training will do so on the 15th.
Canary Islands staggers the return until September 16
The Canary Islands present one of the most staggered calendars. Early Childhood and Primary start on September 9; Secondary Education, on the 10th; Baccalaureate, on the 11th; and the basic, intermediate, and higher degree Vocational Training cycles, on September 16. The Christmas period will go from December 22 to January 7 and Easter, from March 22 to 26.
Murcia also separates the stages: Early Childhood and Primary will start on September 8, Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, and Basic Vocational Training on the 10th, and the medium and higher degree vocational training cycles on September 14.
Navarra is the exception: each center can specify the date
In the Foral Community of Navarra, there is no single mandatory day for all schools. Early Childhood and Primary centers must start between September 4 and 8, respecting at least 175 school days, and finish between June 18 and 22. The Christmas holidays are set from December 23 to January 10 and the Easter holidays from March 25 to April 4.
Local holidays can change the calendar
The general dates are not the only information that families must consider. Municipalities, provinces, and the centers themselves can add non-school days, while regional holidays also vary from one territory to another. In Catalonia, for example, each center has up to four free disposition days; in the Valencian Community, municipalities can propose up to three local non-school days.
Therefore, although the regional calendar allows knowing when the school year starts and ends, the definitive reference for bridges and days without classes must always be the calendar of the school itself. The first major date, in any case, is just around the corner: between September 4 and 15, depending on the territory and the stage, Spanish classrooms will be filled again.