Public holidays in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico celebrates all official U.S. holidays, and other official holidays established by the Commonwealth government.
Additionally, many municipalities celebrate their own Patron Saint Festivals, as well as festivals honoring cultural icons like bomba y plena, danza, salsa, hamacas, and popular crops such as plantains and coffee.
Until June 30, 2014, there were 19 public holidays in Puerto Rico. As a result of a new Commonwealth law, after July 1, 2014, the Commonwealth government consolidated three of its former holidays into just one called Día de los Próceres Puertorriqueños, and reducing the number of holidays observed publicly to 17. As part of the new law, the third Monday of February became Día de los Próceres Puertorriqueños when, in addition to commemorating the birth of those three illustrious Puerto Ricans will also include commemorating the birthdays of four other illustrious Puerto Ricans – Ramón Emeterio Betances, Román Baldorioty de Castro, Ernesto Ramos Antonini and Luis A. Ferré. The law mandated that the Eugenio María de Hostos holiday and the José de Diego holiday would continue to be observed on their respective days as usual.

Official public holidays

Official public holidays are those recognized by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico government. All public offices must close. Many businesses also elect to close. These public holidays include both federal and commonwealth-established holidays, since Puerto Rico recognizes all U.S. federal holidays.

Date	English name	Official name in Spanish	Remarks
January 1	New Year's Day	Día de Año Nuevo	As in most countries, this holiday is celebrated with gatherings and fireworks. Although illegal, celebratory gunfire has sometimes led to injuries and even deaths on certain occasions. Official commonwealth and federal holiday.
January 6	Three Kings Day/ Epiphany	Día de Reyes	This is a Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday, as well as a religious holiday. It celebrates the Three Wise Men's visit to see the newborn Christ by exchanging gifts. Traditionally, children stack bundles of hay in boxes under their beds for each Wise Man's camel, to then find their boxes exchanged for gifts.
Third Monday of January	Martin Luther King, Jr. Day	Natalicio del Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.	A federal and commonwealth official holiday.
Third Monday of February	Presidents' Day	Día de Jorge Washington, Día de los Presidentes y el Día de las Mujeres y Hombres Próceres de Puerto Rico	A federal and commonwealth official holiday. Also known as Día de los Presidentes. Some former holidays were merged into this one: Birthday of Eugenio María de Hostos, Birthday of Luis Muñoz Marín, Birthday of José de Diego, and Birthday of Luis Muñoz Rivera
March 2	American Citizenship Day	Día de la Ciudadanía Americana	A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico holiday. Puerto Ricans have been American Citizens since March 2, 1917.
March 22	Emancipation Day	Día de la Abolición de Esclavitud	A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday. Slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico in 1873—eight years after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as the Island was still a colony of Spain at the time.
Friday in late March or early April	Good Friday	Viernes Santo	An official public holiday and a religious holiday.
Last Monday of May	Memorial Day	Día de la Conmemoración de los Muertos en la Guerra	A federal and commonwealth official holiday. Also known as Día de la Recordación.
June 19	Juneteenth		A federal official holiday.
July 4	Independence Day	Día de la Independencia de los Estados Unidos	A federal and commonwealth official holiday.
July 25	Puerto Rico Constitution Day	Día de la Constitución de Puerto Rico	An official Commonwealth of Puerto Rico holiday. Formerly called Occupation Day, commemorating the anniversary of the landing of American troops at Guánica in 1898.
July 27	Birthday of José Celso Barbosa	Día de José Celso Barbosa	Commonwealth of Puerto Rico holiday. Dr. José Celso Barbosa was a medical doctor and an early advocate of statehood, founder of the Republican Party on the Island.
First Monday of September	Labor Day	Día del Trabajo	A federal and commonwealth official holiday.
Second Monday of October	Columbus Day	Día de la Raza	A federal and commonwealth official holiday.
November 11	Veterans Day	Día del Veterano	A federal and commonwealth official holiday, usually observed at the Puerto Rico National Cemetery. Also known as Día del Armisticio.
November 19	Discovery of Puerto Rico	Día de la Puertorriqueñidad	A Commonwealth of Puerto Rico official holiday. Formerly known as Descubrimiento de Puerto Rico, as Christopher Columbus landed on the northwest coast of Puerto Rico near Aguada on this day in 1493.
Fourth Thursday of November	Thanksgiving Day	Día de Acción de Gracias	A federal and commonwealth official holiday. It marks the beginning of the Holiday (Christmas) season.
December 25	Christmas	Día de Navidad	Official holiday. Also known as Nacimiento del niño Jesús. During Spanish colonial rule, Navidad, marked the Christian ecumenical celebration date of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It was not until the development of the commercialization of Christmas, product of the subsequent American colonial rule, that Navidad becomes the delivery day for Papá Noel. As in the rest of the United States, Papá Noel leaves Navidad presentes under the Árbol de Navidad. This has replaced in large part, but not entirely, the gift giving custom of Puerto Ricans in Three Kings Day. In Puerto Rico the Christmas celebration starts after Thanksgiving and ends in the third week of January, on the last day of the St. Sebastian Street Festival in Old San Juan.