Tomorrow the desired night of San Juan is celebrated, a night of bonfires, rites and traditions that in some way helps us to celebrate the arrival of summer, but that is also closely related to the festival in honor of San Juan Bautista although not in all Spain will be a holiday on June 24. Let us now know in which communities the day of San Juan is a holiday.
In which communities is Saint John’s Day a holiday?
Although the night of San Juan is celebrated in a special way in many cities , the truth is that the holiday of June 24 is celebrated as such in only two communities: Catalonia and the Valencian Community.
In this way, only these two communities will experience the night of San Juan in style , with parties on the beach, festivals and culinary traditions such as the coca de San Juan that is eaten throughout Catalonia and Levante, to be able to rest the next day , Thursday.
In the rest of Spain it will be a working day without more, despite the fact that San Juan is also celebrated in style on the night of June 23 in communities such as Madrid, Galicia or the Canary Islands.
Precisely one of these communities, Galicia, did celebrate San Juan as a holiday in 2020 but this year it has decided not to do so and celebrate May 17 as a holiday, which was the Day of Galician Letters.
Why do we celebrate San Juan?
There are actually two celebrations that commemorate San Juan since on the one hand, this is the party that celebrates the birth (on June 24) of San Juan Bautista but also this is also the party in which summer is welcomed (hence the night of San Juan with its celebration around the bonfires since fire is related to the sun).
A tradition that for many also marks the beginning of the school holidays. Hence, among other things, students take advantage of the bonfires on the beaches to burn their course books or their notes, despite the fact that the great tradition around bonfires on the night of San Juan is to jump them to attract good luck, as well as bathing in the sea bathed in moonlight.
San Juan is also a popular festival in many other parts of the world, as is the case for example in Latin America, as well as in France, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Finland or the United Kingdom.
