People can maximise their holiday by combining bank holiday days with the weekend.

The best bit is between late May and mid-June. Taking just 10 days of annual leave, subject to agreement with your employer, can lead to an 18-day break.

This long period of time off is enabled by the proximity of the Feast of Corpus Christi (Thursday 27 May) and Portugal Day (officially 'Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities Day' on Thursday 10 June).

Leave can be taken for the ten working days between 28 May and 11 June, excluding the public holiday on Thursday 10 June, to create a continuous period of absence from 27 May to 13 June. For those who would rather take shorter periods of time off, taking leave on the Fridays of 28 May and 11 June would give two four-day weekends.

Under the 2027 Labour Code, there are 13 statutory holidays, 8 of which fall on a weekday, and 5 on a weekend. This means that workers can have long weekends without using any of their own holiday days on occasions such as New Year's Day, Good Friday and All Saints' Day.

A simulation on the E-konomista portal shows that by properly managing the 22 bank holiday days, workers can in fact get up to 52 days off over the course of the year, in 8 separate blocks.

In December, for example, it is possible to take 4 days off (2, 3, 6 and 7) to have an 8-day break, and the end-of-year holidays can be stretched out by taking the 5 working days between 27 and 31 December.

The analysis also states that Carnival, on 9 February 2027, which is not a statutory national holiday, and time off would be at the employer's discretion, subject to the terms of the individual's employment and/or the relevant municipal policy.

By law, the holiday schedule must be formally agreed between the parties by no later than 15 April in each year, and the plan must include at least one period of ten consecutive working days of holiday.

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