Holidays To Move Back To Their Original Day
The Comisión de Gobierno y Administración de la Asamblea Legislativa are in favour of a proposal to countermand Ley 8442 so that holidays will be celebrated on the day their respective days.

Ley 8442 moved the holidays, April 11, July 25, August 15 and October 12, were moved to following Monday, which left many upset, especially those in Guanacaste who pushed hard on the government to allow the celebration of the Annexation of Guanacaste and August 15th, Mother's Day in Costa Rica.

The proposal was presented by legislator Jorge Eduardo Sánchez of the Unidad Socialcristiana (PUSC) and has the support of the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC).

"Moving certain holidays to the following Monday was a good intent to motivate national tourism, however the desired effect never happened", said Sánchez.

The legislator added that the public never accepted the moving of the established holidays, that for many were a tradition of culture and roots that should not be meddled with. "The moving holidays is custom in Anglo Saxon countries, but not in Latin America", said Sánchez.

For her part, Elizabeth Fonseca, of the PAC, said that last year's Mother's Day was a total disaster as families did not know when to celebrate the day, on the traditional date of August 15 or on the Monday following.

Some legislators said moving holidays like Mother's Day was an insult to the traditions.

However, legislators Luis Antonio Barrantes, head of the Movimiento Libertario faction, and who was behind the proposal to move the holidays, affirmed that the measure has shown good results in the national tourist industry.

Barrantes assures that his faction has the facts and figures to back up their support and the economic impact of the holiday moving.