Various issues related to the right to the enjoyment of paid holidays by public officials.

The consultation is about the possibility of enjoying holidays before June 15, once the permits for birth and accumulated breastfeeding have been enjoyed, as well as the possibility of interrupting the holidays due to illness or death of a family member.

Article 50 of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, of 30 October, approving the revised text of the Law on the Basic Status of Public Employees, develops the right of public officials to enjoy paid holidays. Specifically, in its paragraph 2, the aforementioned precept establishes that:

“When situations of maternity leave, temporary incapacity, risk during breastfeeding or risk during pregnancy prevent the start of the holiday within the calendar year to which they correspond, or once the holiday period has begun one of these situations, the holiday period may be enjoyed even if the calendar year to which they correspond has ended and provided that no more than eighteen months have elapsed since the end of the year in which they originated.”

Paragraph 2 of the Resolution of April 14, 2026, of the Secretary of State for the Civil Service, which provides instructions on the working hours and hours of the staff in the service of the General Administration of the State and its public agencies, establishes that the working calendar is the technical instrument through which the distribution of the working hours and the setting of the schedules are carried out. This timetable will be approved before February 28, and in the absence of it, or in the absence of it, the instructions contemplated in the Resolution will be directly applicable.

As for the possibility of enjoying holidays before June 15, after the enjoyment of birth and accumulated breastfeeding permits, in this sense, Section 9.4 of that Resolution establishes that at least half of all annual vacation days must be enjoyed between June 16 and September 15, unless the work schedule itself, in view of the particular nature of the services provided in each area, determines other periods.

However, in its Section 9.5, the Resolution states that “When the enjoyment of maternity, paternity and accumulated breastfeeding leave, or situations of temporary incapacity, risk during breastfeeding or risk during pregnancy prevent the beginning of the holiday within the calendar year to which they correspond, or once the holiday period has elapsed one of these situations, the holiday period may be enjoyed even if the calendar year to which they correspond has ended and provided that no more than eighteen months have elapsed since the end of the year in which they originated”.

Likewise, it is established that the holiday period, once its enjoyment has begun, will not be interrupted if during it some permit or license other than those listed previously occurs.

Having pointed out the above, in accordance with the provisions of Section 9.3 of the Resolution, the enjoyment of holidays by public officials is subject to authorization by the competent body, as well as to service needs.

Consequently, in accordance with the provisions of Paragraphs 9.3 and 9.5 of the Resolution of 14 April 2026, it is considered possible to enjoy holidays outside the period between 16 June and 15 September, after the enjoyment of birth and accumulated breastfeeding permits, provided that the time limit of 18 months is respected and is compatible with the needs of service.

As for the possibility of interrupting the enjoyment of holidays due to illness or death of a family member, Section 9.5 does not provide for the interruption of the enjoyment of holidays due to permits other than those mentioned in Section 9.4, so it is understood that, in case of illness or death, the public official may not request the interruption of the enjoyment of holidays.

All of the foregoing is without prejudice to recalling that, according to the regime of competences of this management center, the answers to queries issued by this general directorate are merely informative and, consequently, are not of a binding criterion, nor do they give rise to rights or expectations of law, nor imply any link with the type of procedures to which they refer. Furthermore, in the absence of a mandatory or binding nature, the bodies receiving such replies may, where appropriate, finally take a decision that does not correspond to the opinion contained therein.

The responses to queries contained in this bulletin address the issues raised in the light of the regulations in force at the time of their issuance, so that such responses may be affected by subsequent legislative changes or judicial decisions.