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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Panama

The list of Panama bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2009, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

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27 Oct 2009 (TVN Noticias-Panamá City) A communique from Panama's Secretaría de Comunicación de Estado has announced that Wednesday, November 4, 2009, would be an official public holiday. • 15 Jun 2009 (Asamblea Nacional de Panamá-Ciudad de Panamá) Panama's Parliamentary Labour Commission has approved, in first reading, Bill 510, which would modify Article 46 of Panama's Labour Code and extend the number of Panamanian public holidays whose date is fixed by the días puentes method. • 24 Apr 2009 (La Estrella-Ciudad de Panamá) Panama's President, Martín Torrijos, has decided not to move the upcoming May 1st public holiday to the following Monday, May 4th, 2009. • 21 Apr 2009 (La Estrella-Ciudad de Panamá) The government of Panama is reported to be still hesitating to move the upcoming Labour Day public holiday from Friday, May 1st, to Monday, May 4th, 2009, under the días puente system. • 09 Jan 2009 (Presidencia de la República de Panamá-Panama City) The date of the upcoming Presidential inauguration has been announced as Wednesday, July 1st, 2009. Inauguration day is an official public holiday in Panama. • 23 Dec 2008 (Ministerio de Gobierno y Justicia-Panama City) Panama's Ministerio de Gobierno y Justicia has released the official list of regional public holidays in Panama for 2009 (Por el cual se declaran feriados los días del Santo Patrono y de la Fundación de varias poblaciones de la República de Panamá, durante el año 2009). • 14 Dec 2008 (La Estrella-Panama City) Panama's President, Martín Torrijos, declared 2 one-off, year-end bridge public holidays for the public sector, on Friday, December 26, 2008, and on Friday, January 2, 2009. • 30 Oct 2008 (Gaceta Oficial-Ministerio de la Presidencia) On October 29, Panama's President, Martín Torrijos Espino, signed Executive Decree 416, making Tuesday, November 4, 2008, a public holiday for all government agencies at the national and municipal level. • 20 Aug 2008 (El Sendero del Peje-Panamá) Panama's President, Martín Torrijos Espino, has declared Thursday, August 21, 2008, a one-off public holiday to celebrate the return on Panamanian soil of Irving Saladino, the first Olympic gold medallist of Panama's history. • 19 Apr 2008 (La Prensa) Panama's Secretary of State for Communication announced that the upcoming 2008 Labour Day public holiday would be observed on its traditional set date of May 1st. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Panama public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Governing Law: Public holidays in Panama are governed by article 46 of the Labour Code (Decreto del Gabinete 252 por el cual se aprueba el Código de Trabajo), as amended by Law 46 of November 14, 1962, law 4 of June 25, 1990, law 51 of October 30, 1999, law 55 of November 7, 2001, and law 70 of December 2007 (Ley núm. 70 que modifica el Código del Trabajo, Gaceta Oficial, 2008-01-02, núm. 25950). • Carnaval: The Carnival celebrations in Panama run from the Saturday before Ash Wednesday until Ash Wednesday. Banks and financial institutions are closed from Shrove Monday to Ash Wednesday, but officially, the non-banking sector only has the day before Ash Wednesday as a public holiday. However, many Panamanians work extra hours in the weeks that precede Carnaval to be able to have Carnaval Monday and Wednedsday off. • Regional and Municipal public holidays: Each district and municipality has a local public holiday for either its patron saint day or the anniversary of its foundation. The list is published annually, usually in January, by an executive decree named "Por el cual se declaran feriados los días del Santo Patrono y de la Fundación de varias poblaciones de la República de Panamá, durante el año XXXX". • Compulsory Public Holidays: The Código del Trabajo classifies compulsory public holidays (descanso obligatorio) into 2 origins or categories; those of national mourning (por duelo nacional) and those of national holiday (por fiesta nacional). January 9 and Good Friday belong to the first category,all others belong to the second category. • Inauguration Day: The day of a Presidential inauguration is also listed in the compulsory national public holidays. The next presidential elections in Panama are expected to take place on May 2, 2009, with the inauguration having happenend on the subsequent September 1st, both in 1999 and 2004 . • Carnival: Although Carnaval is celebrated from the Saturday to the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, only the Tuesday is a public holiday. However, trying to conduct business on Carnival Monday is not recommended. • Banks are open from Monday to Saturday, inclusively, except if there is a public holiday. • Panama International Codes PA and PAN (2 and 3-letter ISO3166 codes) and .pa (ICANN national top-level internet domain). • Other Sources of Information The following specialized websites are also a good source of Panama information and news: ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (Panama maps, demographics and economic statistics), the IFES (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and voter participation in Panama), and Wikipedia (includes Panama commemorative dates that are not necessarily public holidays).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Panama, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world. Aft=Afternoon, Arm=Armenian, Bah=Bahai, Bnk=Banks and most financial institutions, Bud=Buddhist, Cat=Catholic, Chr=Christian, Cop=Coptic, Eve=Evening, Gov=Government services and civil servants, Hin=Hindu, Jew=Jewish, Lin=Linguistic or ethnic groups, Mor=Morning, Mun=Municipal, Mus=Muslim, Orth=Orthodox, Othr=Miscellaneous partial observances (usually described in the Additional Information section of this page), Prt=Protestant, Reg=Regional, Rel=Other Religion, Sch=Schools and universities, Sik=Sikh.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2009 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Panama, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Panama, before planning any trip to Panama. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.