Government Employees Will Have 10 Days Off For Semana Santa
Semana Santa or Easter Week will be a long weekend for government employees, with 10 days of vacation. The announcement was made yesterday by president Abel Pacheco.

Semana Santa begins on Saturday April 8 and ends Monday April 17.

Government employees will be off at the end of the work day on Friday April 7 and return to work on Tuesday April 9.

Private sector employees are subject to the policies of their employers and what time they will be allowed to take off work. Thursday April 13 and Friday April 14 are legal holidays, but the rest of the days, will depend on the employer.

Of course, the long vacation period will not be official until it is published in the official government newspaper La Gaceta.

The government announcement also cleared up the legal holiday of Friday April 7, the day commemorating the national hero Juan Santamaría, which will be moved and observed on Monday April 17. In the past, national holidays were celebrated on the day they fell, however, a law passed last year allows the government to move a holiday falling during a weekday to a Monday.