Portugal's 2027 Calendar Has Three Long Weekends and Four Bridge Days, but Four Fixed Holidays Land on a Weekend

Portugal's 13 compulsory public holidays fall kindly in parts of 2027 and badly in others. On our count of the calendar, next year has three three-day weekends built in, and four more where a single day of leave makes a four-day break. Four fixed-date holidays, on the other hand, land on a Saturday or a Sunday and give most workers nothing extra.

The list itself does not change. Article 234 of the Código do Trabalho (Labour Code) sets the compulsory holidays: 1 January, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, 25 April, 1 May, Corpus Christi, 10 June, 15 August, 5 October, 1 November, and 1, 8 and 25 December. Easter falls on 28 March in 2027, which fixes the movable ones: Good Friday on 26 March and Corpus Christi, 60 days after Easter, on Thursday 27 May.

The national holidays in 2027

• Friday 1 January: New Year's Day.
• Friday 26 March: Good Friday.
• Sunday 28 March: Easter Sunday.
• Sunday 25 April: Freedom Day.
• Saturday 1 May: Workers' Day.
• Thursday 27 May: Corpus Christi.
• Thursday 10 June: Portugal Day.
• Sunday 15 August: Assumption.
• Tuesday 5 October: Republic Day.
• Monday 1 November: All Saints' Day.
• Wednesday 1 December: Restoration of Independence.
• Wednesday 8 December: Immaculate Conception.
• Saturday 25 December: Christmas Day.

That leaves eight compulsory holidays on a weekday in 2027, one fewer than in 2026, when nine fell between Monday and Friday.

Three long weekends

New Year's Day on a Friday gives a weekend from 1 to 3 January. Good Friday always makes a long Easter weekend, this time from 26 to 28 March. And All Saints' Day on a Monday closes the year's long weekends, from Saturday 30 October to Monday 1 November.

Four bridge days

A holiday on a Tuesday or a Thursday leaves a single working day between it and the weekend, which many people take off as a ponte (bridge). In 2027 there are four:

• Monday 8 February, before Carnival on Tuesday 9 February, for those who get Carnival off (see below);
• Friday 28 May, after Corpus Christi;
• Friday 11 June, after Portugal Day;
• Monday 4 October, before Republic Day.

A bridge day is not a holiday. It is an ordinary working day, so taking it means using a day of annual leave or reaching an agreement with the employer. Workers are entitled to at least 22 working days of paid leave a year under Article 238 of the Labour Code; our guide to annual leave and holiday pay explains how it is booked. In the public sector, the Government sometimes grants a tolerância de ponto (a discretionary day off) on dates like these, but that is decided by order each time and is not guaranteed.

The holidays lost to the weekend

25 April falls on a Sunday, 1 May on a Saturday, 15 August on a Sunday and Christmas Day on a Saturday. Portugal does not automatically move a holiday that falls on a weekend to a weekday: the Labour Code allows some holidays to be observed on the following Monday only where specific legislation provides for it. With Christmas on a Saturday, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve (both Fridays) are ordinary working days unless the employer or the Government decides otherwise.

The two December holidays, on Wednesday 1 and Wednesday 8 December, sit in the middle of the week, so neither makes an easy bridge.

Carnival and the local holiday

Carnival Tuesday is not a compulsory holiday. Under Article 235, it and the municipal holiday of the area may be observed as holidays through a collective agreement or the employment contract, and employer and worker can agree on another day instead. Whether you get them depends on your sector and your contract, so check with your employer.

Municipal holidays vary by council. Lisbon's, on 13 June for Saint Anthony, falls on a Sunday in 2027. Porto's, on 24 June for Saint John, falls on a Thursday, which gives the city a further possible bridge on Friday 25 June. Under Article 234, a council area can also observe Good Friday on another day with local significance during the Easter period.

Working on a holiday

On a compulsory holiday, businesses that are not allowed to open on Sundays must close or stop work (Article 236). Workers keep their normal pay for the day, and the employer cannot make up for it by asking for extra hours. Anyone who works normal hours on a holiday in a business that is allowed to open is entitled, under Article 269, either to compensatory rest of half the hours worked or to 50 percent more pay for that day, with the employer choosing which.

For the full background on each date, the Easter cycle and municipal holidays, see our guide to public holidays in Portugal.