What's closed at Christmas & New Year: holidays by country
National public holidays 24 Dec 2026 to 6 Jan 2027 in ES, PT, FR, DE, IT, NL, IE and the UK with official sources, practical tips and an .ics calendar file.
Countries8Last checked2026-10-21
National public holidays, 24 Dec 2026 to 6 Jan 2027
Downloads a small calendar file with this country's national holidays. It is created in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
ES
Spain
Fri 25 Dec 2026Christmas DayNavidadnational
Fri 1 Jan 2027New Year's DayAño Nuevonational
Wed 6 Jan 2027EpiphanyEpifanía del Señornational
Regional: Sat 26 Dec 2026 is a holiday only in Cataluña and Illes Balears (Arán excepted); other communities list none. 24 Dec and 31 Dec are not holidays. Local (town) holidays exist too: check your town hall. Regional picker on the First Spanish Christmas page.
Fri 25 Dec 2026Christmas Day1. Weihnachtsfeiertagnational
Sat 26 Dec 2026Second day of Christmas2. Weihnachtsfeiertagnational
Fri 1 Jan 2027New Year's DayNeujahrnational
Regional: Wed 6 Jan 2027 (Heilige Drei Könige) is a holiday only in some Länder (for example Baden-Württemberg and Bayern). The Länder, not the federal government, set the other holidays.
Sat 26 Dec 2026Second day of ChristmasSt. Stephen's Daynational
Fri 1 Jan 2027New Year's DayNew Year's Daynational
6 Jan is not a public holiday. When a holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday (26 Dec 2026 is a Saturday) employees keep their entitlement to benefit, but there is no legal right to the next working day off.
Mon 28 Dec 2026Boxing Day (substitute day)Boxing Day (substitute)national
Fri 1 Jan 2027New Year's DayNew Year's Daynational
Regional: in Scotland, Mon 4 Jan 2027 is a substitute bank holiday for 2 January. The three dates above are bank holidays in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Bank holidays are not a legal right to a day off: your contract decides.
Shops often close early on 24 and 31 Dec (both are Thursdays in 2026). Hours differ by shop and city, so check the shop's own page or door notice. We list no opening hours.
Many shops, offices and public services are closed on national holidays. Buy food, medicine and cash the day before, especially before 25 Dec and 1 Jan (both Fridays).
Public transport often runs holiday timetables, reduced or different from weekdays. Check your city's or operator's own site for 24-26 Dec and 31 Dec-1 Jan before you travel.
Ask your doctor's surgery or health insurer how to reach out-of-hours care before the holidays start. For urgent problems call 112.
Pharmacies take turns to stay open (on duty). These finders cover Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK. For Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland we found no national finder we could confirm, so none is listed.
presidenza.governo.itPresidenza del Consiglio: Legge 27 maggio 1949, n. 260 (festive days, fixed dates)
www.rijksoverheid.nlRijksoverheid: Wanneer zijn de officiële feestdagen in Nederland? (2026 and 2027)
www.workplacerelations.ieWorkplace Relations Commission: public holidays (2026 dates; 1 January is fixed by law)
www.gov.ukGOV.UK: UK bank holidays (England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland)
Not yet confirmed
What we could not confirm on 2026-10-21 (original wording):
Italy: the page of the Presidency of the Council with the 1949 law (Legge 260/1949) could not be read as text by our checker. The list of festive days (including 6 January and 26 December) was read through a search summary of that page and of Normattiva, not line by line. Please confirm on Normattiva.
Ireland: Citizens Information blocked our checker. We used the Workplace Relations Commission page, which lists the 2026 dates and the fixed 1 January. The 2027 date for 1 January follows from the fixed rule, not from a 2027 table.
Germany: the BMI page was read through a search summary (direct fetch failed). Regional Epiphany sources are the Baden-Württemberg and Bayern pages; other Länder with 6 January (such as Sachsen-Anhalt) were not checked and are not named.
Portugal and Germany: no yearly official list for 2027 exists to cite; the dates are fixed by law (Portugal) or Länder laws (Germany). Spain, France, Netherlands and the UK publish dated lists for 2027 or for the period.
Pharmacy finders: all but the NHS are run by the pharmacy sector, not by a government; we checked that the sites open, not their coverage.
Local holidays (town, city, canton-style saints' days) are not covered.