Andorra public holidays in 2026, and the four days the shops really close

Andorra’s public holidays cause more confusion than they should. There are fourteen official ones in 2026, but only four close the shops. If you’re coming over for a shopping trip or a ski week, those four are the only dates that can spoil your plans. The rest mostly affect banks, offices and residents, much like a UK bank holiday that barely touches the high street.

The fourteen holidays in 2026

In October 2025 the Government approved the decree setting the 2026 work calendar, with fourteen compulsory, paid holidays. They’re all in the table with the day of the week. Most are religious or civic dates you’d recognise, plus two very Andorran ones, Constitution Day on 14 March and the feast of Our Lady of Meritxell on 8 September.

As of 29 September 2026, four are still to come, 1 November (a Sunday), 8 December, Christmas Day and 26 December, Sant Esteve, which is Andorra’s Boxing Day. The 2027 calendar isn’t out yet. Given that 2026’s appeared in October, I’d expect it in the autumn.

Which days do the shops actually close?

Four, and always the same four. Andorra Turisme says so on both its shopping and its facts pages. New Year’s Day, Christmas Day, 14 March (Constitution Day) and 8 September (Meritxell) are the days the whole retail sector shuts. For the rest of the year the shopping streets open, and the tourist board likes to point out that that’s 361 days.

14 March comes with small print. If it falls on a weekend, the shops open. It was a Saturday in 2026, so they opened, and it’s a Sunday in 2027, so the same applies. Normal opening hours, Sunday to Thursday until 20:00 and Friday and Saturday until 21:00, are in shopping in Andorra.

Why the other holidays barely register

The decree itself explains it. For construction, industry, offices, banks, transport and services not linked to tourism, all fourteen days are compulsory. Staff in tourism, though, can move them to other days by agreement with their employer, except for four fixed ones, New Year’s Day, Constitution Day, Meritxell and Christmas Day. Those are exactly the four closure days.

So a holiday like 8 December or Easter Monday shuts the bank and the parish office, but not the sports shop or the restaurant. I wouldn’t leave any paperwork for that day, but I wouldn’t change a shopping plan either.

Holidays on the slopes

Three of the four closure days fall in the ski season, 25 December, 1 January and 14 March. Grandvalira says its sales desk is also closed on those three dates, so buy your pass beforehand, which online can be up to 15 % cheaper anyway. Naturland says it will open on 25 December 2026 and 6 January 2027. The 2026-27 season at the three main resorts runs from 4 December to 4 April, and there’s more on prices in the Andorra ski pass.

Does the border close on holidays?

No. Andorra Turisme says the frontier with Spain and France is open 24 hours a day, all year, and Spain’s Foreign Ministry confirms that the Spanish-Andorran crossing is open round the clock for travellers. What does keep office hours is the customs administration itself, for paperwork rather than for driving through. If you’re bringing back cigarettes or spirits, the allowances are the same on a holiday as on any other day, and they’re set out in Andorra duty-free allowances.

Where holidays do make a difference is the traffic. A French or Spanish long weekend can clog both the Envalira pass and the Spanish approach road from La Seu d’Urgell, so I’d check the road conditions before setting off rather than assume a quiet run.

Parish holidays

The same decree lets each parish council add up to four more holidays, usually tied to its patron saint or its festa major. They aren’t on the national calendar and vary from parish to parish. The summer festes majors and their dates are in Andorra’s festes majors.

The one holiday I’d plan around

The only one I’d move my dates for is Meritxell on 8 September. It’s the national day and the whole country feels different. The shops are shut, though, so don’t pick it for a shopping trip. More in Andorra’s national day.

One last point for anyone driving down through France. Andorra’s holidays don’t match England’s, so a UK bank holiday weekend is just a normal weekend there, with normal shop hours. If you’re going for New Year, what opens and shuts that night and on the 1st is in New Year’s Eve in Andorra.