Residents and opposition leaders in Albanchez de Mágina are challenging a Socialist-backed decision to move the town’s traditional May 4 holiday to April 30 beginning in 2027, arguing the change improperly separates the public holiday from centuries-old celebrations honoring Saint Francis of Paola.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A political and community dispute has erupted in the small Andalusian town of Albanchez de Mágina after Socialist councilors voted to move a centuries-old local holiday away from the date traditionally associated with festivities honoring the town’s patron saint.
Beginning in 2027, the local holiday traditionally observed on May 4 will instead fall on April 30 following a decision approved by an absolute majority of councilors from Spain’s Socialist Workers’ Party, or PSOE.
The change separates the public holiday from the broader series of religious celebrations held each year from May 3 through May 6 in honor of Saint Francis of Paola, a tradition that has continued in the town for more than four centuries.
Albanchez de Mágina, an agricultural community of roughly 900 residents in the province of Jaén, has historically organized its annual celebrations around those early May dates. The town’s 2026 festivities program includes the religious and civic events associated with its patron saint.
On the evening of May 3, residents traditionally participate in the Procession of the Rosary of the Torches. The following day, May 4, a solemn procession is held in honor of Saint Francis of Paola.
Because of the celebration’s historical importance to the town, May 4 has traditionally been designated a local holiday.
That arrangement will change next year.
The PSOE-controlled council approved moving the holiday four days earlier to April 30, leaving May 4 as an ordinary working day while the religious observances surrounding Saint Francis of Paola remain scheduled for early May.
The center-right People’s Party, or PP, condemned the decision Wednesday and accused Socialist councilors of effectively dismantling the traditional connection between the local holiday and the patron saint festivities.
Mario León, the PP’s local spokesman, characterized the council’s action as “unilateral, authoritarian, and without consensus,” and alleged that the purpose was to separate the town’s civic celebrations from their Christian origins.
“The Socialist Party’s desire to move it to April 30th and completely separate it from the religious events is solely aimed at severing the festivities from the Christian faith and inventing a weekend of secular holiday,” León wrote.
León said making May 4 a regular working day would make it more difficult for employees and teachers to take part in the traditional religious celebrations.
“That is the day [May 4] that corresponds to it by history, tradition and faith, and we request that traditions not be politically instrumentalized for political purposes,” León said.
According to the PP, discussion of changing the holiday dates dates back to 2025, but the party says neither opposition councilors nor the Brotherhood of Saint Francis of Paola was consulted before the modification was approved.
León also asserted that the decision does not reflect the wishes of many residents and demanded that Albanchez de Mágina’s mayor reverse it and restore May 4 as the local holiday.
The PP said that if the decision is not changed, it will do “everything necessary and knock on every door” to ensure that PSOE “does not take away our traditions, trample on our faith, and once again set the local festivities around May 4.”
The controversy has moved beyond the municipal council.
Spanish newspaper ABC reported that residents have mobilized against the change, with a citizens’ group of approximately 350 members forming to defend the town’s traditional celebrations.
The group has argued that the historical May timetable should remain intact and that the local holiday should continue to coincide with the principal religious observances.
According to a subsequent ABC report, members of the residents’ group said Thursday that Socialist councilors proceeded with the change despite numerous discussions over the issue during the previous year.
A separate citizens’ organization is also reportedly preparing a formal motion seeking to overturn the new calendar arrangement.
The dispute centers not on whether the Saint Francis of Paola religious celebrations themselves may continue, but on whether the municipal holiday should remain tied to May 4 as it has historically been.
For critics of the change, separating the public holiday from that date diminishes the practical ability of residents to participate in the religious events and weakens the longstanding connection between the town’s civic calendar and its Catholic traditions.
The Socialist-backed measure, meanwhile, leaves the underlying religious festivities in place while changing which day is formally recognized as a local holiday.
Unless the council reverses its decision or another challenge succeeds, April 30 will replace May 4 as Albanchez de Mágina’s local holiday beginning in 2027, ending the longstanding alignment between the official day off and the central observance honoring Saint Francis of Paola.
Original article
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