In an attempt to stimulate the struggling economy, the Portuguese authorities have decided that the time has come to completely eliminate two of the country’s bank holidays and suspend two more on a temporary basis for a period of five years.

From 2013, Portugal’s Republic Day and Independence Day holidays will be permanently cancelled. For an initial five-year period, All Saints Day and Corpus Christi will also become normal working days for Portuguese citizens. This will reduce Portugal’s total number of annual bank holidays from 14 to just 10 in 2013.

You might think that this quantity of bank holidays is excessive, especially if you hail from a country that gets far fewer like the UK for example, with just eight. However, Portuguese bank holidays work differently to those in the UK – if holidays fall on a Saturday or Sunday, they are not moved to the following Monday as they are in Britain which means that citizens don’t get the day off.

The decision regarding which public holidays should be scrapped has not been taken lightly. The authorities have consulted numerous religious leaders and the Vatican about their decision.

Having less public holidays will increase the productivity of the workforce but it may also have detrimental effect on the rental property market. With less people planning to head to popular spots by the sea for long weekends, the demand for holiday rentals is likely to decrease.

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