Madrid school holidays: term dates and calendar for families

Quick answer: when are the Madrid school holidays in 2026-27? In state-funded schools, Christmas runs from 23 December 2026 to 8 January 2027, Easter from 19 to 29 March 2027, and the year ends on 18 June 2027, under Orden 2034/2026. British schools such as Hastings School set their own dates and add half-terms in November and February.

Last reviewed: November 2026 by Emma from ISA. Official dates come from the Boletín Oficial de la Comunidad de Madrid (BOCM) and school dates from each school's published calendar; always confirm with your school.

Key takeaways

Orden 2034/2026, published in the BOCM on 4 June 2026, sets classes in state-funded schools from 7 September 2026 (8 September in secondary) to 18 June 2027.
Christmas holidays run from 23 December 2026 to 6 January 2027, and 7 and 8 January are non-teaching days, so state-funded schools reopen on Monday 11 January.
Easter holidays officially cover 20 to 28 March 2027, with 19 and 29 March also off: eleven days in a row (Orden 2034/2026).
Decreto 82/2026 (BOCM, 1 October 2026) makes 19 March, San José, a regional holiday in 2027, while 2 May falls on a Sunday and is not moved.
Madrid city's local holidays in 2026 were 15 May and 9 November; the 2027 local dates were not yet in the BOCM in early November 2026.

Easter comes early in 2027, with Easter Sunday on 28 March, and that reshapes the whole spring term. For families planning flights, camps or a visit home, Madrid school holidays work on two levels: a regional calendar for state-funded schools, and the calendars that private international schools publish for themselves.

This guide gives the official 2026-27 dates from the BOCM, the public holidays for 2026 and 2027, and the term dates of a British, a British-IB and an American school, so you can see how far they differ.

What are the official Madrid school holidays for 2026-27?

The official dates are set by Orden 2034/2026 of 25 May, signed by the regional minister for education and published in the BOCM on 4 June 2026. It applies to public and publicly funded (concertado) schools in the Comunidad de Madrid, which must teach at least 175 days in compulsory stages. No later amendment has appeared in the BOCM.

Start of classes: 7 September 2026 for infant, primary and special education; 8 September for ESO, Bachillerato and vocational training.
Christmas: 23 December 2026 to 6 January 2027, plus non-teaching days on 7 and 8 January.
February: 12 and 15 February 2027 are non-teaching days, giving a four-day weekend.
Easter: 20 to 28 March 2027, plus non-teaching days on 19 and 29 March.
End of classes: 18 June 2027, except for second-year Bachillerato students, whose year depends on the university entrance exam. Summer holidays start on 1 July.

Public infant and primary schools may teach a four-hour morning day from 7 to 30 September and from 1 to 18 June, and on 22 December with the school council's agreement. Lunch must still be served, but pick-up times change, so working parents should plan for those weeks.

Madrid school holidays 2026-27: dates at a glance

Break	State-funded schools	Hastings School	St. George Madrid	American School of Madrid
First day	7 or 8 Sept	4 Sept	7 Sept	1 Sept (Grades 1 to 12)
November	2 and 9 Nov off	2 to 9 Nov	2 to 6 Nov, 9 Nov	2 and 9 Nov, 26 and 27 Nov
Christmas	23 Dec to 8 Jan	23 Dec to 7 Jan	21 Dec to 8 Jan	21 Dec to 8 Jan
February	12 and 15 Feb	15 to 19 Feb	15 to 19 Feb	17 to 19 Feb
Easter	19 to 29 Mar	19 Mar, 22 Mar to 2 Apr	22 to 29 Mar	19 Mar, 22 to 26 Mar
Last day	18 June	29 June	29 June	18 June

Source: Orden 2034/2026 (BOCM, 4 June 2026) and the 2026-27 calendars published by each school; national holidays such as 12 October and 7 and 8 December apply to all.

Public holidays in Madrid in 2026 and 2027

Public holidays are days off in private schools too, as the calendars below show. For autumn 2026, the order lists 12 October, 2 November and 7 and 8 December as holidays, and Madrid city adds 9 November, La Almudena. The city's other 2026 local holiday was San Isidro on 15 May, under a resolution of the regional labour directorate published in the BOCM on 12 December 2025.

For 2027, Decreto 82/2026 sets twelve regional holidays: 1 and 6 January, 19 March (San José), 25 and 26 March (Maundy Thursday and Good Friday), 1 May, 16 August, 12 October, 1 November, 6 and 8 December and 25 December. Each town adds two local holidays, and Madrid's had not been published in the BOCM by early November 2026, so check before booking around mid-May or early November 2027.

How do international schools set their own term dates?

Private schools that receive no public funding are outside the order and publish their own three-term calendars, but they still close on public holidays. British schools usually start a few days earlier, take a week off in early November and mid-February and finish in late June, while American schools add breaks such as Thanksgiving. Our guide to the Spanish school system compared with the UK's ages, years and stages explains how those calendars line up with Spanish courses.

Hastings School

Founded in 1971 and part of the Cognita group, Hastings teaches the British curriculum to pupils aged 2 to 18 in central Madrid, with A levels and the IB Diploma in the sixth form. Its 2026-27 year runs from 4 September to 29 June. It joins the 2 November holiday and La Almudena into a week off, takes half-term from 15 to 19 February, closes on 19 March and takes its Easter break from 22 March to 2 April, running into the week after Easter Monday. It also lists 3 May as a school holiday.

St. George School Madrid

St. George follows the British curriculum, with the International Primary Curriculum in primary, and all its sixth-form students take the IB Diploma, the school says. Term one runs from 7 September to 18 December, with half-term from 2 to 6 November and the Madrid holiday on 9 November; term two starts on 11 January. Easter runs from 22 to 29 March, with parent-teacher meetings on 30 March. Its calendar, which warns that dates may change with the 2027 official holidays, marks 19 March as the last day of term and 3 May as a public holiday. The regional decree published later makes 19 March a holiday and does not include 3 May, so ask the school to confirm both days.

The American School of Madrid

ASM combines an American programme with the IB Diploma and plans 175 contact days in 2026-27. Grades 1 to 12 start on 1 September and finish on 18 June, close to the public calendar, but the school adds a Thanksgiving break on 26 and 27 November and a February break from 17 to 19 February. Easter week runs from 22 to 26 March, and 29 March and 3 May are school days.

Do Madrid schools have half-term?

State-funded Spanish schools do not have half-term. They rely on long weekends around holidays, such as 12 to 15 February in 2027, and on the two big breaks at Christmas and Easter. British schools in Madrid do have half-term, normally a week in early November and another in mid-February, as Hastings and St. George show.

That gap matters for mixed families. A child at a British school and a sibling at a Spanish school will largely share Christmas, Easter week and summer, but in 2026-27 not the February week or most of the November break. Our guide asking is Madrid good for families, with a school-first view, covers neighbourhoods and commutes if you are still choosing where to live.

Camps and childcare during the holidays

School camps. Many private schools run their own day camps. SEK Ciudalcampo's 2026-27 calendar, for example, shows a Winter Camp and a Spring Camp for children from preschool to Primary 6, plus days when the school stays open during the holidays. Ask your school which weeks are covered and whether outside children can join.

City Council programmes. Madrid City Council runs holiday centres in public schools. In its 2023-24 Christmas call, the English-language centres offered 2,100 places in 21 public infant and primary schools for children aged 3 to 12 registered in the city whose parents were working during the break, and applications ran from 30 October to 8 November. In May 2026 it also announced Christmas, Easter and summer camps for pupils of public special education schools, under its MadridCamp banner. Places are limited, so watch the council's announcements from the autumn.

Plan around the gaps. The days that catch working parents out are the non-teaching days that are not holidays for adults: 7 and 8 January, 12 and 15 February and 29 March 2027 in state-funded schools, plus half-term weeks in British schools.

To compare term dates, curricula and fees side by side, see our list of the best international schools in Madrid.

Sources: Orden 2034/2026, Decreto 82/2026 and the Dirección General de Trabajo resolution on 2026 local holidays (BOCM); 2026-27 calendars of Hastings School, St. George School Madrid, the American School of Madrid and SEK Ciudalcampo; Madrid City Council press releases on holiday centres.

More guides to schools in Madrid

Frequently asked questions

When are the Easter holidays in Madrid in 2027?

In state-funded schools the Easter holidays officially run from 20 to 28 March 2027, and 19 and 29 March are also non-teaching days, so pupils are off from Friday 19 March to Monday 29 March. Private international schools set their own dates: Hastings School breaks from 22 March to 2 April, for example.

When do schools in Madrid go back after Christmas in 2027?

State-funded schools reopen on Monday 11 January 2027. The Christmas holidays run from 23 December 2026 to 6 January 2027, and Orden 2034/2026 makes 7 and 8 January non-teaching days. Some private schools return earlier: Hastings School starts its second term on 8 January, while St. George School Madrid returns on 11 January.

Do private schools in Madrid follow the regional school calendar?

Not fully. Orden 2034/2026 binds public and publicly funded schools, while fully private schools publish their own calendars. They still close on national, regional and local public holidays, but many start in early September, add half-terms in November and February, and finish in late June, as Hastings School and St. George School Madrid do.