The month of May is always a month full of public holidays… The opportunity to wonder if the French are the ones who benefit from the greatest number of days off. But make no mistake, in Europe, some of our neighbors are doing even better!
With its 11 public holidays in the yearFrance is nevertheless located in the low average of Europe. Their number varies practically from one to two depending on the countries of the European Union (between 8 and 15) and the events celebrated are not exactly the same. For example, Ascension Day is only a holiday in nine European countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden. The worst off are people in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands who only have 8 public holidays per year. Next come the Germans, Danes and Irish, with one more day, therefore 9 public holidays on the clock, according to a European comparison by the human resources firm Mercer.
France, like Sweden and Italy, has 11 public holidays per year. For France, these are New Year’s Day, Easter Monday, Labor Day (May 1), May 8 (to celebrate May 8, 1945), Ascension Thursday, Pentecost Monday, National Day (July 14), Assumption (August 15), All Saints’ Day (November 1), Armistice (November 11) and Christmas.
Around fifteen public holidays… in Slovakia!
The best off are Cyprus and Slovakia with 15 public holidays, Spain and Malta with 14 days, then Austria with 13 days. The number of public holidays therefore varies between countries, but also the events celebrated and their date. We can cite the example of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated on December 8 by several of our neighbors such as Spain and Italy, or Epiphany (Things Day, January 6), in Austria and Spain. . Likewise, Christmas Eve and Boxing Day are public holidays in several European countries.
For civil holidays too, each country has, depending on its history, its own holidays, such as German Unity Day (October 3). Finally, some public holidays are only local. In France, Alsace and Moselle have certain public holidays in common with Germany, such as Good Friday (the day before Easter) and December 26. Guadeloupe and Martinique have a public holiday in May in memory of the abolition of slavery.
And in the world ? The champion countries are India and Colombia, both with 18 public holidays. On the other hand, in Mexico, we are not idle: 8 days off because of the holidays, not one more! The most romantic are the Peruvians, who make Valentine’s Day a day of rest; the most greedy, the Turkmens, who stop working to celebrate the melon; and the most eco-friendly, the Samoans, who have a tree day!
You may also be interested in:
Where does the May 1st holiday come from?
What is Ascension?
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