--- title: "Guardian Angels 2026: when and where it's a public holiday — festivos.io" description: "Guardian Angels is a local holiday in 8 municipalities, accounting for 20,132 residents in the 2025 register. In 2026 it falls on 2 October." source: "https://festivos.io/en/holiday/angeles-custodios" --- # Guardian Angels Guardian Angels are celebrated on 2 October: the liturgical memorial of the guardian angels assigned to each person in Catholic teaching. - **Level:** Local holiday - **Date 2026:** Friday 2 October - **Municipalities:** 8 - **Residents · 2025 register:** 20,132 - **Where most:** Andalucía (5) ## Guardian Angels in the working calendar In 2026, the dataset records Guardian Angels as a local holiday in 8 municipalities, accounting for 20,132 residents in the 2025 register. The most common date is 2 October 2026. This comparison uses only the official working calendars incorporated into the dataset for each year. ## Demographics of the covered population Age, citizenship, birthplace and average-age structure from the 2025 Annual Population Census. | Demographic profile | % | | --- | --- | | Women / men | 48.7% / 51.3% | | Aged 0–14 | 15.5% | | Aged 15–64 | 65.9% | | Aged 65+ | 18.6% | | Foreign citizenship | 14.9% | | Born outside Spain | 18.1% | | Weighted mean age | 42.8 years | ### How it differs from its surroundings Comparison with Spain and with the aggregate of the 4 regions where it is observed. All five comparisons are population-weighted and use only the 2025 Annual Census. A positive sign means the covered population has a higher value than the benchmark. | Demographic profile | Covered population | Compared with Spain | Compared with its 4 regions | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Aged 0–14 | 15.5% | +2.6 pp | +2.1 pp | | Aged 65+ | 18.6% | -2.1 pp | -1.1 pp | | Foreign citizenship | 14.9% | +0.8 pp | +2.1 pp | | Born outside Spain | 18.1% | -1.1 pp | +0.5 pp | | Weighted mean age | 42.8 years | -1.8 years | -1.1 years | The largest difference from Spain is in “Aged 0–14”: +2.6 pp. Sex comes from the 2025 municipal register; all other metrics come from the 2025 Annual Census. Each percentage uses the total from its own statistical operation. [INE municipal tables 68535 and 68541](). ## What is Guardian Angels On 2 October the Catholic Church keeps the Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels: the belief that God assigns each believer a protecting and guiding angel. The idea has biblical and patristic roots (for example Matthew 18:10); the Catechism states that each of the faithful has an angel as protector and shepherd. The feast spread to the whole Church in the seventeenth century: after earlier partial permissions, Clement X fixed it on 2 October in 1670 for the universal calendar—the first free day after Michaelmas. It remains an obligatory memorial in the Roman Missal. In Spain some municipalities adopt it as a local public holiday—parish patronage or municipal custom—without its being a national holiday. In 2026 the dataset links it to 2 October in a handful of town halls. The day is quieter than a summer fair: Mass, devotion and sometimes school or neighbourhood acts. This entry stays with the general liturgical and historical frame; it adds no undocumented local legends. _Holy Guardian Angels_ ## Dates of Guardian Angels In 2026 it falls on Friday 2 October in most municipalities. | Year | Main date | Municipalities | | --- | --- | --- | | 2026 | Friday, 2 October | 8 | ## Official sources Official documents linked by the 2026 records. Dates can vary by territory; each municipality page preserves its specific source. Population: official municipal-register figures at 1 January 2025. [INE](). [INE municipal tables 68535 and 68541](). - [Comunidad de Madrid — Festivos locales (datos abiertos)]() - [Gobierno Vasco — Calendario laboral (Open Data Euskadi)]() - [Junta de Andalucía — Calendario de fiestas locales (datos abiertos)]() - [Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha — Calendario de fiestas locales (DOCM/datos abiertos)]() ## 8 municipalities celebrate Guardian Angels Its local holiday in 2026, by region. Each municipality links to its annual record and the available official source. Together, they account for 20,132 residents in the INE municipal register at 1 January 2025. **Andalucía** (5): Cádiar, Cañete de las Torres, Cuevas del Campo, Darro, Zújar **Castilla-La Mancha** (1): Yebes **Comunidad de Madrid** (1): Vellón, El **País Vasco** (1): Zaldibia ## About Guardian Angels ### When is Guardian Angels in 2026? In 2026, Guardian Angels is mainly celebrated on 2 October 2026 (Friday). Some municipalities move it to another date on the working calendar. ### In how many municipalities is Guardian Angels a holiday? It's a local holiday in 8 municipalities in 2026, accounting for 20,132 residents in the 2025 register; mostly in Andalucía (5 municipalities). ### Is Guardian Angels a national holiday? No. Guardian Angels is a local-level holiday: it's only a non-working day in the municipalities that set it as their local festival; each keeps its official source. ## Other holidays - Saint Isidore the Laborer (1052 municipalities) - San Roque (340 municipalities) - San Sebastián (260 municipalities) - San Blas (259 municipalities) - San Pedro (251 municipalities) - San Bartolomé (243 municipalities) - San Miguel (236 municipalities) - Exaltación de la Santa Cruz (209 municipalities) Per-municipality data with its official source (regional gazette). Every date is verifiable on the municipality page. Data from festivos.io — CC BY 4.0. --- Data: festivos.io — CC BY 4.0. Official source: State Official Gazette (BOE) and regional gazettes (Law 37/2007).