A Holiday is a Holiday

Today is a holiday in Spain. We celebrate the adoption of the Constitution of 1978. The day after tomorrow, is another holiday. It's the day of the Immaculate Conception. That leaves one workday in between, which many try to take off and create an uninterrupted five day weekend, which is every kid's dream. Celebrating the Constitution, I can understand. It's the cornerstone upon which our country is presently constructed, flawed though it may be. That same Constitution, however, declares Spain a lay country, with no official religion. So, why celebrate a very Catholic holiday just two days later?

Why celebrate any religious holidays in any country that recognizes no official religion? More than anything, because religion is still very much a part of the culture. It can also move millions in money, such as Christmas, Easter, and All Saints' Day. Only observant Catholics celebrate December 8th by going to Mass. Everyone else could care less. Not so, for example, Christmas. Perhaps because Christmas belongs to all of Christianity, it is such a strong part of our Western culture. So much, that an entire industry, designed to relieve us of our money, has sprung up around that date. Take away Christmas as a holiday, and even people who are declared atheists will revolt. 

So, why keep the Immaculate Conception as a holiday, especially with another holiday just two days before? I think it's mostly because of a human love of rest. In Spain there are ten public holidays next year. Most of them have a religious base. They are: 

January 1st New Year's
January 6th Epiphany
March 30th Good Friday
May 1st Labor Day
August 15th Assumption of the Virgin Mary
October 12th National Day
November 1st All Saints' Day
December 6th Constitution Day
December 8th Immaculate Conception
December 25th Christmas Day

Add to that the holidays in each region. In Galicia, that brings the total up to fourteen.

March 29th Holy Thursday
May 17th Day of Galician Literature
June 24th St. John's Day
July 25th St. James' Day 

Then there are the local holidays in each township. Those are generally the local saint, such as the last day of the Guadelupe festival in Rianxo, and Carnival Tuesday or July 16th, which is when the Virxe do Carme is celebrated, patron saint of mariners. And that brings the total up to sixteen holidays a year, though some may fall on a Sunday sometimes, such as St. John's Day next year.

Compare that to Boston next year, which only has eleven holidays, only one of which, Christmas, is religious in nature. Thanksgiving has a religious origin, but it no longer is considered religious, rather a harvest festival dedicated to family reunions. 

So, why not get rid of some of the obviously religious holidays? Because you would see an uprising the likes of which have never been seen since the French Revolution. You would see heads on pikes. Even if the religious nature of the holiday is barely celebrated, the lay part of going on vacation or just bumming around the house, is very much celebrated. I think one of the reasons the French Revolutionary calendar fell into disuse was the lack of holidays. The leaders of the French Revolution wanted to symbolize the total destruction of the Ancien Régime, and even designed a calendar that broke completely with the previous one. It consisted of twelve months with names taken from nature. Each month consisted of three weeks of ten days each. So, the workweek was extended to nine days, with rest on the tenth. The holidays, which were all based on the Church back then, were abolished. Five days at the end of the year, September, were declared holidays. On leap years they were six. And that was it. Not much fun for the working people.

So, whether or not a holiday is religious in nature, I will still celebrate that day of rest. While I wish I could go on vacation, I'll just bum around the house.