Explained: What changes about life in Spain in December 2025

Bank holidays

December will see several public holidays in Spain. They will begin with Saturday December 6th, which is Constitution Day. Although it will not affect many who work Monday to Friday, it will be a non-working day for those who usually work on Saturdays. This also means the majority of big supermarkets and many other big stores will be closed that day. 

The next holiday is Monday December 8th – Immaculate Conception Day, which is a national holiday in all regions.

Later on in December, both Christmas Day and Boxing Day or Saint Stephen’s Day, known in Spanish as Día de San Esteban are public holidays. Christmas falls on Thursday the 25th this year and San Esteban on Friday the 26th.

Businesses, schools, supermarkets and other shops will usually be closed both these days.

December puente

The December puente or bridge day is December 7th, between the two holidays of the 6th and 8th. Even though the 7th isn’t a public holiday, many people take it off to enjoy a longer break and getaway to another city. Many people may also be taking Friday December 5th off this year to enjoy a four-day weekend. 

This means that those days are likely to be very busy in Spain’s biggest cities. In 2023 in Barcelona police were deployed to prevent people from clogging up traffic by taking selfies in the middle of the road, while Madrid broke a new record for visitors in December 2024. 

Christmas markets

Many Christmas markets will be opening up this month, making cities in Spain even more festive. Some of the best and biggest starting in December include the Mercadillo Navideño in Málaga on December 1st, the Mercado de Navidad de Bilbao starting on the 5th, the Mercado de Bib-Rambla in Granada on the 1st and the Mercado de Navidad de la Ciutat de les Arts in Valencia on the 13th.

Markets in other major Spanish cities opened at the end of November. 

READ ALSO: The best Christmas markets in Spain in 2025 

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Festivals

Besides Christmas, there are several other festivals being held across Spain throughout this month. In Mallorca on December 24th, the Canto de la Sibila songs are performed in all the churches on the island, while December 28th is El Día de Los Inocentes (Day of the Holy Innocents), which is similar to April Fool’s when people are encouraged to play pranks and tell jokes. 

The Carnival of Alcázar de San Juan or Carnavalcázar will also take place between December 25th and 28th. This town in Castilla La-Mancha is the only place to hold its carnival celebration in December. Festivities include various parades from a grand one to a children’s one and even a masked parade. There will also be the traditional Burial of the Sardine on the last day. 

Deadline by which to get V16 light for cars

Drivers in Spain will soon no longer be legally allowed to use warning triangles when they break down or are involved in an accident, instead, from January 1st 2026, they must have a V16 light in their car. This means that December 31st 2025 is the last day in which you can purchase one of these lights to have in your car. 

The V16 device is a small yellow LED light that is equipped with geolocation connectivity and is capable of emitting a high-intensity 360º light intermittently and continuously for 30 minutes. 

READ ALSO: Spain’s V16 light: Everything drivers need to know

IRNR tax deadline

Anyone who owns a property in Spain or who purchased one in 2024 and is not a Spanish tax resident will have to submit their annual non-residents income tax return before December 31st 2025.

Generally, you’re a non-resident if you spend less than 183 days in Spain, but it can also depend on where you centre of economic interest is and where your family live.

It can include property rental income tax, inheritance tax, wealth tax and capital gains tax or any other income generated from Spain. The general IRNR rate for EU residents is 19 percent on net income and for non-EU citizens it’s 24 percent.

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December weather

At the end of last week a mass of Arctic air brought colder temperatures to almost all parts of Spain, as well as widespread frost and snow across almost the entire north of the country, but what is the forecast for the month ahead and for Christmas? According Spain’s famed young meteorologist Jorge Rey, the first half of the month will be dominated by a “strong anticyclone that will bring fog, even frost, but pleasant maximum temperatures”.

He warned though that there would be some storms around December 18th or 19th, which would raise temperatures slightly. Rey has forecast that everything will change just before Christmas, pointing out that “around December 22nd or 23rd we expect continental winds, a low-pressure system settling over Spain, drawing in winds from Siberia“. He predicts that this could bring “the possibility of rain in northern areas and snow at very low elevations”. 

New flight routes

Several new flights routes will be inaugurated in December to and from Spain, if you’re thinking of getting away for the holiday period.

China Southern Airlines will start a new direct route between Guangzhou in China and Madrid from December 2nd. 

Iberia will begin operating a route between Madrid and Recife in Brazil from December 13th with three flights per week. 

Wizz Air will operate a new flight between Alicante and Bratislava in Slovakia from December 15th, also with three flights per week. 

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Elections in Extremadura

Extremadura will go to the polls for early elections scheduled for December 21st. They will vote a year and five months earlier than originally planned to elect the next regional government. For the first time since 1983, the elections have been brought forward due to the budget impasse, according to the regional president, María Guardiola of the People’s Party (PP).

Most of the governments of Extremadura, except for the two PP governments presided over by Guardiola and José Antonio Monago (2011-2015) and the current one have been PSOE governments since the first regional elections were held in 1983.