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June 9 Dia de la Region de Murcia: Why Region of Murcia Day is not celebrated this year
The regional holiday for Murcia is normally a time when stores, businesses and schools close every year
Normally, June 9 is a ‘festivo’, or a public bank holiday, in Murcia as it is ‘El Día de la Región de Murcia’, or the Region of Murcia Day.
This public holiday is observed throughout the entire autonomous community as a celebration of the culture and heritage of Murcia. Schools, businesses and banks ordinarily close, as do some bars and restaurants, while shops and supermarkets may have different opening times.
In Spain, every one of the country’s 17 autonomous communities has its own day that it takes as a bank holiday in order to celebrate local traditions. To mark the event of the Day of the Region of Murcia, which was declared an autonomous holiday in 1982, there are various official events and speeches taking place this June 9.
The truth is that the Day of the Región de Murcia is not observed as a time for local pride as much as the local days are in other autonomous communities, such as the neighbouring region of Andalucía, but people in Murcia are always happy to have a day off work and school, at least when they can get it.
When June 9 falls on a Monday or a Friday, there is a three-day weekend. When June 9 is on a weekend, the holiday is normally moved to the following Monday. However, that isn’t happening this year, in 2024. June 9 falls on a Sunday this year but it is not being transferred to another day because Murcia took Tuesday March 19, which is the Feast of San José and Father’s Day in Spain as a holiday instead.
Thursday June 13 is also a local holiday in the Murcia municipality of Mazarrón, including in the Port of Mazarrón and the Camposol urbanisation, so some businesses may decide to shut on this day too.
Special food you can try on Region of Murcia Day
If you really want to get into the swing of things this Día de la Región de Murcia, this is the perfect occasion to try some typical dishes from the Region of Murcia, such as the ‘pastel de carne’ meat pie and the ‘caldero murciano’ rice and fish dish.
Are shops and businesses open on Region of Murcia Day?
On a normal public holiday or ‘festivo’, many supermarkets and shops close in Murcia and Spain and almost all companies give their employees the day off work and children get a day off school. As it coincides with a Sunday this year,this doesn’t really apply as most places shut on Sundays as well anyway.
Image: Archive
