San Juan public holiday: where in Spain 24 June 2026 is a day off work
On 24 June 2026, three Spanish autonomous communities and around 350 municipalities mark the feast of St John the Baptist with a public holiday, while most of the country works as normal.
Origins and traditions
San Juan blends pre-Christian solstice rites with the Christian commemoration of the birth of St John the Baptist. Celebrations peak on the night of 23–24 June, with bonfires lit on beaches and in town squares, fireworks displays, and symbolic acts like jumping over flames or bathing in the sea at midnight. In Alicante, the ‘Fogueres de Sant Joan’ festival builds and then burns large satirical monuments.
Where it is a holiday
The 2026 labour calendar, published in the Spanish Official State Gazette (BOE), designates 24 June as an autonomous holiday in Catalonia, Galicia and the Valencian Community. All provinces in those three regions are affected: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona; A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra; and Alicante, Castellón and Valencia. The Valencian Community first adopted a region-wide San Juan holiday in 2019. Beyond these three, the same date is a local holiday in roughly 350 municipalities that have chosen it as one of the two municipal holidays every council can set. In the Canary Islands, only 14 of the 88 municipalities observe San Juan as a local holiday, including Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Arucas, Telde and Valsequillo on Gran Canaria; Haría and Tinajo on Lanzarote; Guía de Isora, Los Silos, San Juan de la Rambla and Garachico on Tenerife; Valle Gran Rey and Vallehermoso on La Gomera; Puntallana on La Palma; and El Pinar on El Hierro. Large Canarian centres such as Santa Cruz de Tenerife and San Bartolomé de Tirajana treat the day as a regular workday.
Fire-risk restrictions
Because the 2026 celebration follows the first heatwave of the summer, some authorities have curbed the traditional bonfires. La Rioja prohibited them outright, and Navarra urged residents not to light fires in order to avoid unnecessary risk.
Shopping in Valencia
In the city of Valencia, shopping centres located in Zonas de Gran Afluencia Turística (high-volume tourist areas) remain open. Aqua Multiespacio, El Saler, Arena, Nuevo Centro and El Corte Inglés operate from 11:00 to 21:00, including leisure and restaurant areas. Out-of-town centres such as Bonaire, MN4 and Ikea open only their dining and leisure sections, while retail stores stay shut. Most supermarkets close for the day: Mercadona and Consum are shut, with limited exceptions in coastal tourist towns and Consum’s Charter-format shops. Carrefour hypermarkets, Carrefour Express outlets and Aldi stores open, but Lidl and Dia do not.
