Some holidays of those celebrated in the Canary Islands are international and national, others are regional holidays and others are of insular character. The official day of the autonomous community is Canary Islands Day on 30 May. The anniversary of the first session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, based in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, held on 30 May 1983, is commemorated with this day.
The common festive calendar throughout the Canary Islands is as follows:
Date                       Name                                                 Data
1 January               New Year                                          International festival.
6 January               Epiphany                                           Catholic festival.
March or April     Holy Thursday and Holy Friday     Christian festival.
1 May                   International Workers’ Day           International festival.
30 May                  Canary Islands Day                          Day of the autonomous community. Anniversary of the first session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands.
15 August              Assumption of Mary                      Catholic festival. This day is festive in the archipelago as in all of Spain. Popularly, in the Canary Islands it is known as the day on which the Virgin of Candelaria (Saint Patron of the Canary Islands) is celebrated.
12 October          Fiesta Nacional de España                National Holiday of Spain. Commemoration of discovery of the Americas.
1 November      All Saints’ Day                                     Catholic festival.
6 December       Constitution Day                                 Commemoration of the Spanish constitutional referendum, 1978.
8 December       Immaculate Conception                     Catholic festival. The Immaculate Conception is the Saint Patron of Spain.
25 December      Christmas                                             Christian festival. Commemoration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
In addition, each of the islands has an island festival, in which it is a holiday only on that specific island. These are the festivities of island patrons’ saints of each island. Organized chronologically are:
Date                                                            Island                  Saint/Virgin
2 February                                                 Tenerife              Our Lady of Candelaria
5 August                                                     La Palma              Our Lady of the Snows
8 September                                           Gran Canaria         Our Lady of the Pine
15 September                                         Lanzarote              Our Lady of Dolours
3rd Saturday of September                  Fuerteventura     Our Lady of the Peña
24 September                                         El Hierro              Our Lady of the Kings
Mon. following the 1st Sat. of Oct.       La Gomera           Our Lady of Guadalupe
The most famous festivals of the Canary Islands is the carnival. It is the most famous and international festival of the archipelago. The carnival is celebrated in all the islands and all its municipalities, perhaps the two busiest are those of the two Canarian capitals; the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Tourist Festival of International Interest) and the Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It is celebrated on the streets between the months of February and March. But the rest of the islands of the archipelago have their carnivals with their own traditions among which stand out: The Festival of the Carneros of El Hierro, the Festival of the Diabletes of Teguise in Lanzarote, Los Indianos de La Palma, the Carnival of San Sebastián de La Gomera and the Carnival of Puerto del Rosario in Fuerteventura.