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School Hours & Holidays in Andalucia
The academic year in Andalucia runs from the second week in September to the third week of June.
The main holidays are at Christmas, Easter and the long 10-week summer break. School hours vary depending on the school and are usually from 0900 to 1400 (Infantil and Primary) and 0830 to 1430 (Secondary) with an hour's break for lunch. Lessons are generally divided into teaching periods of 45 minutes. Some schools offer school lunches (comedor). Most schools provide a subsidised bus service to take children to and from their homes in outlying regions and state schools generally provide a breakast club (aula matinal) and after-school club (guardería) for working mothers; the latter may be complemented by after-school activities on the schoool premises.
Spanish school children have long summer holidays compared with many other countries - from the second or third week of June to the second week of September. The length of the terms are fixed and generally the same, although local fiestas and ferías always mean an extra day off or two, with some dias lectivos, extra school holiday days which are chosen individually by each school.
Schools are also closed on public holidays when they fall within term time. Pupils transferring from primary to secondary school are given an additional two weeks summer holiday, which usually includes an 'end of school' trip with their fellow pupils which can be anywhere in Europe, depending on money raised and what is considered affordable for the parents.
School holiday dates are published by schools and local communities well in advance, thus allowing parents plenty of time to schedule family holidays during the school holidays. You can find a school calendar for each province on the regional government website, Junta de Andalucia, education section.
See our list of public holidays in Andalucia here.
