Holy Week in Costa Rica: history, holidays and figures

In Costa Rica, Holy Week brings together religious observance, processions and two public holidays whose date changes every year. Here is which days are holidays and how they are paid, where some of its traditions come from and what the official figures say.

The story, step by step

1. 1
   325, the date rule. The rules that set Easter, and with it the whole of Holy Week, go back to the Council of Nicaea, according to the United States Naval Observatory.
2. 2
   1884, the processions. On 1 September, President Próspero Fernández bans processions of images outside churches, with three exceptions: Corpus Christi, Holy Week and the patron saint's procession.
3. 3
   1943, the Labour Code. It is approved on 27 August and comes into force on 15 September. Its article 148 is the one that today makes Holy Thursday and Good Friday public holidays.
4. 4
   2018, the end of the lagarteada. SINAC bans the capture of a crocodile every Good Friday in Ortega de Santa Cruz, a tradition at least 200 years old, on the grounds that it is hunting.
5. 5
   2022, farewell to the 1884 decree. Law 10285 of 20 September repeals it, along with other expired or obsolete rules.
6. 6
   2026, collective vacation. Directive 056 gives public servants Monday 30 and Tuesday 31 March and Wednesday 1 April as vacation days.

Timeline

Which days are holidays and how they are paid

According to the Ministry of Labour, no one is obliged to work on a public holiday or may be penalised for refusing. Those paid weekly outside commerce receive the days worked plus one day's pay for each holiday; in commerce, with monthly, fortnightly or weekly pay, the full salary is paid. If the holiday is worked, that day is paid double, and overtime on that day, triple.

Holy Week in figures

Between Saturday 28 March and Sunday 5 April 2026, the Red Cross recorded 11,675 interventions: one every 53 seconds. Road incidents rose from 280 in 2025 to 451 in 2026. 52 people died at the scene of the incidents, 24 of them in road accidents; in 2025 the figure had been 55.

The so-called “dry law” is not national either: under Law 9047, each municipal council decides whether to restrict alcohol sales. In 2026, according to the National Union of Local Governments, only Cartago, on Good Friday, and Turrialba, with time slots during the processions, applied restrictions.

Curious facts

• Holy Thursday and Good Friday are the only Labour Code holidays without a fixed date: article 148 names them by their day; all the others are calendar dates, such as 1 May or 25 December.
• The 1884 decree justified restricting processions on the grounds of the “tolerance of worship” guaranteed by the Constitution of the time.
• The lagarteada consisted of catching a live crocodile in the Las Palmas river on Good Friday, taking it to the village square and releasing it the next day.
• Holy Week 2027 is the earliest between 2020 and 2029: Easter Sunday falls on 28 March.

Frequently asked questions

Which Holy Week days are public holidays in Costa Rica?

Only Holy Thursday and Good Friday, both with mandatory pay under article 148 of the Labour Code. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are working days, and Easter Sunday is not a public holiday either.

Are they moved to another day?

No. The Ministry of Labour pointed out in 2026 that they are not moved, and the law that shifted several holidays to Mondays between 2020 and 2024 never included them.

Can a person refuse to work on Holy Thursday or Good Friday?

Yes. According to the Ministry of Labour, no one is obliged to work on a public holiday and they cannot be penalised for refusing. Anyone who works that day is paid double.

Sources

• United States Naval Observatory (USNO): “The Date of Easter”.
• SINALEVI: Decree XXVIII (Law 28) of 1 September 1884, banning some processions, repealed by Law 10285 of 20 September 2022.
• SINALEVI: Labour Code, article 148 and its transitional provision (Laws 9875, 10396 and 10438).
• Ministry of Labour and Social Security: press release on the Holy Week and 11 April holidays (26 March 2026) and the Ministry's history.
• SINALEVI: Directive 056-MIDEPLAN-MTSS of 16 March 2026 (La Gaceta 55, 20 March 2026).
• Teletica: report on the lagarteada in Ortega (15 April 2022).
• El Observador: the Red Cross's Holy Week 2026 report (6 April 2026).
• Delfino: the National Union of Local Governments on Holy Week alcohol restrictions (27 March 2026).