19 March: is it a public holiday?

The 19 March holiday, Saint Joseph’s Day, is not a holiday across the whole of Spain, hence the question that comes up every spring. In the Valencian Community it is: the Consell’s decrees for 2026 and 2027 both include it. Here we explain which other regions share it, according to the BOE (the Official State Gazette), and what this day has to do with the Fallas and with Father’s Day.

Where 19 March is a public holiday

The BOE’s annual resolution reminds us that each region may choose between St Joseph and St James the Apostle, or swap them for another fiesta that is traditional to it. The result is an uneven map. In the 2026 BOE annex, 19 March (a Thursday) was a public holiday in Galicia, the Region of Murcia, Navarre, the Basque Country and the Valencian Community. In the 2027 annex, with the 19th falling on a Friday, it is Galicia, the Community of Madrid, the Region of Murcia, Navarre and the Valencian Community. If you live or work in another region, check its regional calendar and your own municipality’s local one.

Here, the decrees of the Consell (the regional government) set it for both years: Thursday in 2026 and Friday in 2027, so the 2027 one leaves a three-day weekend. You can see the rest in the Valencian Community public holidays calendar.

St Joseph, the Fallas and Father’s Day

In Valencia, according to Visit València, the cremà of the Fallas is on the night of 19 March, when the monuments that have been standing in the street for days are burned. The same page notes that this day is also Father’s Day. If you get lost in the vocabulary, the glossary has the cremà, the casal faller (the clubhouse of a Falla) and the mascletà. The sweet of those days, according to Valencia Bonita, is pumpkin fritters with chocolate.

Father’s Day on Saint Joseph’s Day is a custom, not an officially designated day. Where it is also a public holiday, as it is here, lunch that day tends to go on for hours.

Local holidays: 20 March 2026

In 2026 something curious happened: 20 March, a Friday, was a local holiday in 34 municipalities, according to the resolution in the DOGV, the regional official gazette (8 in the province of Alicante, 11 in Castellón and 15 in Valencia). Only 11 of the 34 entries give a reason: Alginet calls it “segundo día de San José” (second day of St Joseph), Benimarfull “puente San José” (St Joseph bridge day) and Favara “Fallas”, while Bétera dedicates it to Santa Alejandra and Cheste to the Virgen de la Soledad. For 2027 it is not yet known: the local holidays usually come out in the DOGV between mid-November and mid-December, although in 2022 they were delayed until 21 December.

The Father’s Day meal

In 2027 the 19th falls on a Friday. If you want paella at home that day without lighting a fire, see our paella delivery or get a quote. We cook from Aspe, in the catering in Aspe and the Vinalopó area.

Other related dates

If you are looking for more holidays with a name, see Easter Monday, St Vincent Ferrer and 9 d’Octubre, or the calendar hub.