Public holidays in Portugal, 2028

How Portugal public holidays work in 2028

Portugal has thirteen public holidays under article 234 of the Código do Trabalho, eight obligatory national plus Easter Sunday (movable) plus optional regional and municipal observances. The Madeira and Azores autonomous regions add their own statutory days, including Madeira Day on 1 July and Azores Day on the Monday after Pentecost. Each município adds its own municipal holiday, typically the patron saint's day, so Lisbon closes for Saint Anthony on 13 June and Porto for Saint John on 24 June. Four national holidays were suspended between 2013 and 2016 as an austerity measure under the IMF and EU bailout, then restored by Law 8/2016.

Working days in Portugal

Article 279 of the Código Civil and article 138 of the Código de Processo Civil define dia útil as any day not a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday. The standard private-sector week is Monday to Friday with banks operating Monday to Friday. Statutory annual leave under the Código do Trabalho article 238 is 22 working days plus the thirteen public holidays. Settlement of euro transactions uses TARGET2; domestic Portuguese banking follows the Banco de Portugal calendar, which observes the eight obligatory national days plus the Lisbon municipal holiday only for the Lisbon-cleared instruments.

For people planning cross-border meetings, the practical move is to overlay Portugal's calendar with the calendars of the other countries on your team. A week that looks completely clear from your end might be a national holiday on theirs. The compare tool above pairs two country calendars and highlights the overlapping closures, so you can spot the weeks where almost no one is at their desk before you put a launch on the board.