--- title: "Our Lady of Sorrows 2026: when and where it's a public holiday — festivos.io" description: "Our Lady of Sorrows is a local holiday in 6 municipalities, accounting for 20,536 residents in the 2025 register. In 2026 it falls on 9 September." source: "https://festivos.io/en/holiday/nuestra-senora-de-los-dolores" --- # Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows — Mater Dolorosa — is a liturgical memorial on 15 September, the day after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. In several Spanish towns the title is also a local patron, and the labour holiday may fall on other September dates by local agreement. - **Level:** Local holiday - **Date 2026:** Wednesday 9 September - **Municipalities:** 6 - **Residents · 2025 register:** 20,536 - **Where most:** Comunitat Valenciana (2) ## Our Lady of Sorrows in the working calendar In 2026, the dataset records Our Lady of Sorrows as a local holiday in 6 municipalities, accounting for 20,536 residents in the 2025 register. The most common date is 9 September 2026. 4 municipalities set it on another date. 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 | 50.5% / 49.5% | | Aged 0–14 | 13.3% | | Aged 15–64 | 65.3% | | Aged 65+ | 21.5% | | Foreign citizenship | 14% | | Born outside Spain | 15.9% | | Weighted mean age | 44.9 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 | 13.3% | +0.4 pp | +0.1 pp | | Aged 65+ | 21.5% | +0.7 pp | +1.3 pp | | Foreign citizenship | 14% | -0.1 pp | -3.3 pp | | Born outside Spain | 15.9% | -3.4 pp | -6.4 pp | | Weighted mean age | 44.9 years | +0.4 years | +0.8 years | The largest difference from Spain is in “Born outside Spain”: -3.4 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 Our Lady of Sorrows Devotion to the Sorrowful Mother spread especially around the Mediterranean from the later Middle Ages. The Servites promoted the cult of the Seven Sorrows; Pius VII extended the feast to the whole Latin Church in 1814, and Pius X fixed the definitive date on 15 September (1913), next to the feast of the Cross. It should not be wholly confused with Friday of Sorrows (the Friday before Palm Sunday), a popular Holy Week observance. The September memorial contemplates Mary united to her Son’s Passion; the Stabat Mater is the hymn most closely tied to this title. On the labour calendar the name groups local patronal feasts — for example in Dolores (Alicante), Benissanó, Hervás or Ribera del Fresno — whose civil date may shift to fit the festival programme. 15 September remains the shared liturgical reference; each municipality sets the non-working day. _Our Lady of Sorrows, Mary at the foot of the cross._ ## Dates of Our Lady of Sorrows In 2026 it falls on Wednesday 9 September in most municipalities. 4 move it to another date (when it lands on a weekend or by local agreement). | Year | Main date | Municipalities | | --- | --- | --- | | 2024 | Monday, 5 August | 1 | | 2025 | Monday, 15 September | 3 | | 2026 | Wednesday, 9 September | 6 | ## 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](). - [Generalitat de Catalunya — Calendari de festes locals (DOGC/dades obertes)]() - [Generalitat Valenciana — Resolución de fiestas locales (DOGV)]() - [Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha — Calendario de fiestas locales (DOCM/datos abiertos)]() - [Junta de Extremadura — Resolución de fiestas locales (DOE)]() ## 6 municipalities celebrate Our Lady of Sorrows Its local holiday in 2026, by region. Each municipality links to its annual record and the available official source. Together, they account for 20,536 residents in the INE municipal register at 1 January 2025. **Comunitat Valenciana** (2): Benissanó, Dolores **Extremadura** (2): Hervás, Ribera del Fresno **Castilla-La Mancha** (1): Vega del Codorno **Cataluña** (1): Besalú ## About Our Lady of Sorrows ### When is Our Lady of Sorrows in 2026? In 2026, Our Lady of Sorrows is mainly celebrated on 9 September 2026 (Wednesday). Some municipalities move it to another date on the working calendar. ### In how many municipalities is Our Lady of Sorrows a holiday? It's a local holiday in 6 municipalities in 2026, accounting for 20,536 residents in the 2025 register; mostly in Comunitat Valenciana (2 municipalities). ### Is Our Lady of Sorrows a national holiday? No. Our Lady of Sorrows 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).