Constitution Day, the Día de la Constitución (), falls on 6 December and is one of Spain's national public holidays. It marks the day in 1978 when Spaniards voted in a referendum to approve the Constitution that still governs the country.
In 2026 the date lands on a Sunday, two days before another national holiday, the Inmaculada on Tuesday 8 December. That pairing decides whether you get a long weekend in Valencia, so this guide covers the history first and the practical side after.
What Spain celebrates on 6 December
The Constitution was written by the parliament elected on 15 June 1977. A committee of seven deputies from five parliamentary groups drafted it, both chambers approved it on 31 October 1978, and the referendum of 6 December 1978 carried it with 87.78 per cent of the votes cast; the yes votes amounted to 58.97 per cent of the electorate.
King Juan Carlos I signed it before both chambers on 27 December, and the Boletín Oficial del Estado published it on 29 December 1978, the day it came into force. Versions in Spain's other languages were published the same day.
The holiday keeps the date of the vote, not the date the text took effect. It is a civic day rather than a religious one, and for most people in Valencia it is simply a day off.
Photo: Barcex, CC BY-SA 4.0
Is 7 December 2026 a public holiday in Valencia?
Constitution Day is a national holiday, but in 2026 6 December falls on a Sunday. When that happens, each region decides whether to give the following Monday off. The official 2026 holiday list in the BOE shows nine regions moving it to Monday 7 December: Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Cantabria, Castile and León, Extremadura, Madrid, Murcia and La Rioja, plus the city of Melilla.
The Comunitat Valenciana is not among them. Its 2026 work calendar, Decreto 100/2025, lists twelve regional and national holidays and Monday 7 December is not one of them. In Valencia, the 7th is an ordinary working day unless your own town has picked it as one of its two local holidays.
Photo: Américo Toledano, CC BY-SA 4.0
The December puente in 2026: how the long weekend works
In Spain a long weekend made by a holiday is called a puente (), a bridge. December usually brings the biggest one of the season because the 6th and the 8th are only two days apart. In 2026 the 6th is a Sunday and the 8th a Tuesday, which leaves Monday 7 December as the gap.
In Valencia that Monday is a working day, so the four-day break from Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 only happens if you take the 7th as annual leave. Banks, gestorías and public offices open as on any Monday.
Schools follow the 2026-2027 regional school calendar, which closes on 8 December but not on the 7th. Towns can add up to three local non-school days, and some use one on Monday 7, so check your school's own calendar. Our school year calendar guide explains how those local days work.
What is open in Valencia on 6 and 8 December
Both days are holidays for shops too. The Generalitat sets the Sundays and holidays when shops across the region may open in 2026, and in December the list covers the 13th, 20th and 27th, not the 6th or the 8th. Outside the tourist zones, expect most large stores and shopping centres to stay closed on both days, while bakeries, small shops, cafés and restaurants usually open.
The city of Valencia works differently in its zones of high tourist influx, which include Ciutat Vella, L'Eixample, the Turia gardens, the Marina and the avenue of les Corts Valencianes. There shops may open on any Sunday or holiday between 15 June and 5 January except a handful of named dates, and neither the 6th nor the 8th is one of them. Many central shops therefore open on both days, though each one sets its own hours.
Museums and monuments keep their Sunday and holiday hours, so check each one's page before you go. Metro and EMT buses run their holiday timetables, and on Monday 7 everything works as on a normal weekday. Our December in Valencia guide covers the rest of the month.
8 December: the Inmaculada, a separate holiday
Two days later comes the Inmaculada Concepción (), a Catholic feast. Unlike the 6th, it is a national holiday that no region can swap, so on Tuesday 8 December 2026 Valencia and the rest of Spain have the day off.
The 6th is the civic holiday of the pair and the 8th the religious one. Many families treat the two as a single break.
Constitution Day weekend in Valencia: the marathon and the Christmas season
The Valencia Marathon runs on Sunday 6 December 2026, starting at 08:15 according to the city's municipal sports foundation. Streets along the course close that morning, so plan any drive across the city around it. Our Valencia Marathon guide has the route and race-week details.
By that weekend the Plaça de l'Ajuntament is usually dressed for Christmas, with the lights, the nativity scene and stalls. The 2026 programme had not been announced when this guide was written, so check the Ajuntament's own announcement before you plan around it.
If you are new to Spain's holiday calendar, our guides to 12 October and All Saints' Day explain the autumn's other days off.
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