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Public holidays in Chile
This is a list of national holidays in Chile. Most holidays in Chile are Christian holidays.
History
On January 28 1915, President of Chile Ramon Barros Luco promulgated Law 2,977; which arranged all the information insofar about holidays celebrated in Chile. It established the following holidays:
Sundays year-round.
January 1 (New Year), June 29 (Saint Peter and Saint Paul), August 15 (Assumption of Mary), December 8 (Immaculate Conception), December 25 (Christmas Day), and the floating holidays of the Ascension of Jesus Christ and Corpus Christi.
Fridays and Saturdays during Holy Week
September 18, Establishment of the First Government Junta in 1810
September 19 and May 21, in celebration of the glories of the Army and the Navy.
The day of election of electors of the President of the Republic.
On November 24 1921, President Arturo Alessandri Palma promulgated Law 3,810; marking October 12 (Columbus Day) as holiday.
In 1968 the holiday on June 29 (Saint Peter and Saint Paul) and the floating holidays of the Ascension of Jesus Christ and Corpus Christi were eliminated. The Catholic Church agreed to celebrate them on the nearest Sunday.
In 1987, during a visit by Pope John Paul II, Corpus Christi was reestablished (though the Church continued to observe the holiday on the nearest Sunday). The holiday on June 29 (Saint Peter and Saint Paul) was also reestablished.
In 1988, Law 18,700 established that days coinciding with elections and plebiscites are to be legal holidays.
In 2000, Law 19,668 moved Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Columbus Day and Corpus Christi holidays to the preceding Monday, if they fall on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, or to the following Monday, if they fall on a Friday. Additionally, the desigation of Columbus Day was changed from Dia de la Raza ("Race Day") to Dia del Descubrimiento de Dos Mundos ("Discovery of Two Worlds Day").
September 11 (the day of the military coup in 1973) was established as a holiday by the military regime in 1974. In 1998 it was replaced by the Dia de la Unidad Nacional ("Day of National Unity") and moved to the first Monday in September. In 2002 it was finally abolished.
On January 6 2007 Law 20,148 replaced Corpus Christi with Our Lady of Mount Carmel, to be observed July 16, starting in 2007.
On September 14 2007 Law 20,215 declared holidays all September 17s falling on a Monday and all September 20s falling on a Friday.
Sources
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Public holidays in Chile
