The government announced a policy change on national holidays via a new decree published last week. The modification, set to allow holidays that fell on Saturdays and Sundays be moved to either a Friday or a Monday, could result in more long weekends.

Argentine law differentiates between national holidays with fixed and non-fixed dates. The former category, which include May 25 (Commemoration of the May Revolution of 1810) and July 9 (Independence Day), among others, must be commemorated the same day. Non-fixed holidays on the other hand, such as June 17 (Anniversary of the passing of national hero Martín Miguel de Güemes), can be moved to another date in order to form a long weekend.

While the law regulating holidays established that festivities that fell on a Tuesday or Wednesday were to be moved to the prior Monday or the following Friday, it made no mention of what happened on weekends. The new decree explicitly states that this policy is now applicable to holidays that fall on a Saturday or Sunday. 

The decision of whether to move a non-fixed date holiday to a Monday or Friday is up to the office of the Chief of Staff. 

The announcement opens the door to more long weekends. According to the country’s official tourism site Visit Argentina, extended weekends are “ideal for local tourists to explore Argentina’s diverse attractions” and aim to “promote tourism within the country and reduce the seasonal nature of domestic tourism.”

The only non-fixed date holiday falling on a weekend left in 2025 is October 12. The holiday, known as Cultural Diversity Day, falls on a Sunday this year. Under the new decree, it could be moved to October 10 (Friday) or 13 (Monday), effectively making it a three-day weekend.

The next confirmed extended weekend for 2025 is in November. National Sovereignty Day (November 20, a Thursday) will be moved to Monday, the 24th. That weekend has the potential to be an extra-long weekend for some, as Friday, November 21, was designated by the government as a non-working day for tourism. 

This particular kind of holiday, which is determined by the government at the beginning of the year, adds an extra day to certain long weekends to bolster domestic tourism. While the previous government gave these days the full legal weight of a holiday, the Milei administration stripped them of this mandatory status, allowing each employer to decide if their workers would have that day off or not.