Spain School Holidays Calendar 2026 – When Do Children Have Time Off?

Spain’s school holidays in 2026 are not set by a single national calendar — each of the country’s 17 autonomous communities publishes its own term dates, layered on top of national public holidays. This guide covers the main holiday periods across the 2025–2026 academic year, explains the regional differences that matter most if you’re heading to the Costa del Sol, Mallorca, or the Canary Islands, and shows you exactly where Spanish and UK school breaks overlap.

How Spain’s School Year Is Structured

Spain’s academic year runs from early September to late June, divided into three terms (trimestres). The Ministerio de Educación, Formación Profesional y Deportes sets the national minimum: at least 175 teaching days per year for primary and secondary schools. Beyond that, each comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) sets its own start date, end date, and regional holidays.

For British families, this creates a practical complication. A holiday week in Andalucía may fall a week earlier or later than the same break in the Balearic Islands. Arrive in a resort during a Spanish school holiday without knowing about it, and you’ll find crowded beaches, higher prices, and booked-out family restaurants.

The 2025–2026 school year runs from early September 2025 to the last week of June 2026. The following year’s term — 2026–2027 — begins again in September 2026. This guide focuses on the holiday periods falling within calendar year 2026.

Spain’s non-teaching days fall into three categories, as outlined by how2spanish.com:

• National holidays (festivos nacionales): apply across all of Spain
• Regional holidays (festivos autonómicos): set by each autonomous community
• Local holidays (festivos locales): up to two additional days per municipality, usually tied to a patron saint’s fiesta

Spain’s Main School Holiday Periods in 2026

Understanding Spain school holidays in 2026 means tracking four main blocks across the academic year. Dates below are standard ranges; your specific destination may vary by a few days.

Christmas and Epiphany (Navidad / Reyes Magos)

Schools break up around 22–23 December 2025. The return date is typically 7 or 8 January 2026, after Epiphany on 6 January — the Día de los Reyes Magos. This day, not Christmas Day, is when Spanish children traditionally receive their gifts. It is a national public holiday across all of Spain and one of the most important dates in the children’s calendar.

Carnival (Semana de Carnaval)

A mid-February break is not observed in every region, but Andalucía and the Canary Islands tend to give schools a short closure around Carnival, ranging from two days to a full week. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife both run large-scale Carnival events, and local school calendars reflect this.

Easter (Semana Santa)

This is the major spring holiday. Good Friday in 2026 falls on 3 April, and most Spanish schools are closed for approximately two weeks around Easter — typically from the last week of March through to around 13 April. Semana Santa (Holy Week) is Spain’s most significant religious and cultural holiday period. Travel demand across coastal resorts spikes sharply during this window.

Summer Holidays (Vacaciones de Verano)

Schools finish in the last week of June. The summer break then runs to early September — roughly 10 to 11 weeks. According to idealista.com’s overview of the 2025–2026 school calendar, exact end dates differ by region, with some Canary Islands schools finishing slightly earlier than those on the mainland.

Regional Holiday Differences Across Spain

The holiday schedule for Spain school holidays in 2026 shifts meaningfully depending on which part of Spain you’re visiting. Here is what matters most in the regions British families use most.

Andalucía (Costa del Sol, Seville, Granada)

Andalucía observes 28 February as Día de Andalucía, a regional public holiday. Schools are closed. Easter closures in Andalucía traditionally begin from Palm Sunday (Domingo de Ramos), the Sunday before Good Friday — meaning the school break may start slightly earlier than in other regions.

Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca)

The Balearic Islands celebrate 1 March as Dia de les Illes Balears. Easter term dates broadly align with the rest of Spain. Confirmed dates are published by the Govern de les Illes Balears each year.

Canary Islands (Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote)

The Canary Islands observe 30 May as Día de Canarias, a regional holiday. Carnival closures here are among the most generous in Spain. The education calendar is published by the Gobierno de Canarias — the page to bookmark if you’re based in or travelling to the islands.

Catalonia (Barcelona, Costa Daurada)

Catalonia adds 23 April (Sant Jordi, the region’s patron saint day) to the school holiday calendar. It also observes 11 September (La Diada, Catalonia’s national day). Sant Jordi in particular transforms central Barcelona — expect crowds, book stalls, and flower markets.

Madrid

Madrid closes schools on 2 May for the Fiesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, commemorating the 1808 uprising. It’s a significant civic holiday in the capital.

Public Holidays That Extend School Breaks

Spain’s national public holidays apply across every region. For 2026, the confirmed dates are:

• 1 January — New Year’s Day (Año Nuevo)
• 6 January — Epiphany (Día de los Reyes Magos)
• 3 April — Good Friday (Viernes Santo)
• 1 May — Labour Day (Fiesta del Trabajo)
• 15 August — Assumption of Mary (Asunción de la Virgen)
• 12 October — Spain’s National Day (Fiesta Nacional de España)
• 1 November — All Saints’ Day (Todos los Santos)
• 6 December — Constitution Day (Día de la Constitución)
• 8 December — Immaculate Conception (Inmaculada Concepción)
• 25 December — Christmas Day (Navidad)

When a national holiday falls on a Thursday or Tuesday, many workplaces and some schools apply the puente (bridge) convention, effectively extending the break to a four-day weekend. Schools do not close automatically for puentes, but it is common enough in practice that you may notice quieter resorts or fuller roads on those days.

August 15 (Assumption) deserves particular attention for summer visitors: it falls mid-August and can trigger noticeably higher accommodation demand in coastal towns already at peak capacity.

Spanish and UK Holiday Overlaps in 2026

Knowing where Spain school holidays in 2026 align — or conflict — with UK term dates is the key planning tool for families flying from England, Scotland, or Ireland.

Easter is the biggest overlap. Good Friday is 3 April in both Spain and England. UK state schools typically break up in the last week of March and return mid-April, which matches almost exactly with Semana Santa in Spain. The result: Easter week in Mallorca, Tenerife, the Costa del Sol, and Barcelona is simultaneously busy with Spanish domestic tourism and UK visitors. Prices reflect this. Book accommodation and flights as early as possible — ideally by December.

May bank holidays in England fall on 4 May and 25 May 2026. Spanish children are in school on both of these weekends (though 1 May is a national holiday across Spain). The first two weeks of May are therefore a relatively uncrowded window in most Spanish resorts, as neither UK school half-term nor significant Spanish holidays are running simultaneously.

UK summer holidays run from roughly mid-July to early September. This overlaps heavily with Spanish summer holidays, which begin in late June. The peak overlap — late July and all of August — brings the highest prices and the largest crowds. Travelling in June (after Spanish schools break up but before most UK families travel) or in early September offers noticeably quieter conditions on beaches and at attractions.

For expat families already resident in Spain, the local school calendar governs — so planning trips back to the UK requires checking both calendars against each other.

Planning Your Family Trip Around These Dates

A few practical principles apply directly to how you book.

Target the shoulder windows. The two to three weeks after Easter (mid-to-late April) and the first three weeks of June are consistently the best-value periods at coastal resorts. Spanish schools are back in session, UK families haven’t broken up for summer, and temperatures in Andalucía and the Canary Islands are already well above 20°C.

Book Easter early, without exception. Easter 2026 falls early in the calendar — Good Friday on 3 April — which means UK Easter holidays will likely begin in late March. That combination of UK and Spanish demand in popular resorts drives prices up sharply from around December onwards. If Easter is your window, treat it like peak summer.

Check the local fiesta (feria) calendar. On top of school holidays, individual towns run their own fiestas — which can mean road closures, altered beach access, and reduced accommodation availability. The local ayuntamiento (town hall) website lists official local holidays and feria dates.

Go direct to regional education authority sites. Generic school holiday lists circulate online and are frequently out of date. Each autonomous community publishes its official calendar — usually in June or July for the following academic year. These are the authoritative source.

For more on getting around Spain with children, see our guides to travelling with kids on Spanish trains and the best family beaches on the Costa del Sol.

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