Saint Stephen’s Day, also known as Sant Esteve, is celebrated on 26 December, just after Christmas, and is a regional holiday in Catalonia (except in Aran) and in the Balearic Islands.
Regional holiday
26 December 2026
9,383,745
Verified data
In 2026, Saint Stephen's Day is recorded as a regional holiday on 26 December 2026. The calendars included in the dataset apply it in Cataluña and Illes Balears; and a local holiday in Castilla y León (15 municipalities), Comunidad Foral de Navarra (6 municipalities), Cantabria (5 municipalities), País Vasco (4 municipalities), Aragón (3 municipalities), La Rioja (3 municipalities), Comunitat Valenciana (2 municipalities), Castilla-La Mancha (1 municipalities) and Comunidad de Madrid (1 municipalities), covering 9,714,101 residents in the 2025 register.
This comparison uses only the official working calendars incorporated into the dataset for each year.
| Year | Main date | Where recorded | Residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 26 December 2024 | Cataluña; and a local holiday in Castilla y León (9 municipalities), Comunitat Valenciana (6 municipalities), Comunidad Foral de Navarra (4 municipalities), País Vasco (4 municipalities), Cantabria (3 municipalities), La Rioja (2 municipalities) and Comunidad de Madrid (1 municipalities) | 8,338,704 |
| 2025 | 26 December 2025 | Cataluña and Illes Balears; and a local holiday in Castilla y León (6 municipalities), Comunitat Valenciana (4 municipalities), Comunidad Foral de Navarra (2 municipalities), País Vasco (2 municipalities), Cantabria (1 municipalities), Comunidad de Madrid (1 municipalities), La Rioja (1 municipalities) and Principado de Asturias (1 municipalities) | 9,666,827 |
| 2026 | 26 December 2026 | Cataluña and Illes Balears; and a local holiday in Castilla y León (15 municipalities), Comunidad Foral de Navarra (6 municipalities), Cantabria (5 municipalities), País Vasco (4 municipalities), Aragón (3 municipalities), La Rioja (3 municipalities), Comunitat Valenciana (2 municipalities), Castilla-La Mancha (1 municipalities) and Comunidad de Madrid (1 municipalities) | 9,714,101 |
Demographic profile
Age, citizenship, birthplace and average-age structure from the 2025 Annual Population Census.
50.6% / 49.4%
13.3%
67.4%
19.3%
19.1%
25.6%
43.5 years
Comparison with Spain. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aged 0–14 | 13.3% | +0.4 pp |
| Aged 65+ | 19.3% | -1.4 pp |
| Foreign citizenship | 19.1% | +5.1 pp |
| Born outside Spain | 25.6% | +6.3 pp |
| Weighted mean age | 43.5 years | -1 years |
The largest difference from Spain is in “Born outside Spain”: +6.3 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.
Saint Stephen’s Day commemorates Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr in tradition, whose liturgical memorial falls on 26 December. In the Spanish working calendar it is not a national holiday: only the territories that include it in their regional calendar observe it, notably Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
The Official State Gazette lists it as a regional holiday and notes an exception in Catalonia: in the Aran Valley, Sant Esteve is replaced by the Festival of Aran on 17 June. Elsewhere in Catalonia and in the Balearics, 26 December forms part of the Christmas holiday block, together with 25 December, which is a national holiday throughout Spain.
It mainly works as a non-working day after Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, linked to family gatherings and the table. In Catalonia, Sant Esteve is traditionally associated with cannelloni, often made with leftovers from the previous day’s broth or stew.
Outside those territories it may coincide with local holidays or family customs, but it does not create a general public rest day. Checking the regional and municipal calendars confirms whether it applies each year.
Other holidays
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.