The Feast of Estamos Cerrados

Last Updated on August 2, 2017 by lydiaf1963

Spend more than a few days in Spain and you’ll soon learn the rhythm of the day is dictated by the “siesta” also referred to as “la comida”;  that period in the afternoon when many shops close and the Spanish enjoy their largest meal and perhaps a short nap. In addition most shops are closed from Saturday afternoon through Monday morning plus there are a multitude of public holidays in Spain which also call for closings.

You quickly get used to the openings and closings of the markets, particularly if like us you like to purchase food on a daily basis. Once you get used to the schedule, you know you need to pick up an extra loaf of bread or a six pack of beer on Saturday…and if you forget, well, there are plenty of places to eat.

There are laws limiting commerce to 90 hours a week and 10 Sundays a year. There are different rules for the regular shops versus those located in the centro commercial or mall which maintains longer hours…you don’t want to go there on the weekend…it’s packed!

Once or twice a year a major religious feast day will fall on a Saturday and throw a wrench into the whole works. While many of the Spanish are secular (or at least “unchurched”), the Catholic church still exerts an immense influence and major feasts are also national holidays. When they fall on Saturday, the grocery stores and markets are closed for TWO DAYS and some of the bars and restaurants also close. None of this celebrating on the Friday before or the Monday after.

It happened to us last November during the Feast of All Saints, but our Spanish teacher let us know it was going to happen. Sometimes, if the feast falls during the week the stores will open on Sunday. But not that particular day. And this weekend was the Feast of the Assumption of Mary (I had to look it up…I’m not Catholic). OK, no need to panic, we had enough to eat in the house and we were hopeful Sunday would dawn to open shops.

Our hopes were dashed early Sunday morning.

grrr…makes you just wanna

What’s a foreign Protestant to do?

Well, to begin with, make note of the public holidays in Spain and plan around them. Some shops will have signs to give plenty of notice, but not all of them. We certainly missed all the signs about this past weekend and were left high and dry. It wasn’t too bad as we had stuff in the freezer and pantry, but naturally nothing really appealed to me and I had to make do.

To add insult to injury, it’s August –the traditional month for vacation– so we were forced to scout out our third and fourth favorite places to have a beer. Fortunately, Spain has another tradition…

the fast food places sell beer.