The official school calendar of Castilla-La Mancha for the academic year 2025/2026 has introduced a significant novelty: the expressions “Christmas” and “Easter” have been suppressed by decision of the regional government headed by Emiliano García-Page. In their place, the terms “First trimester break” and “Second trimester break” are used, according to the Order of June 4, published in the Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha (DOCLM) on June 11.
Although the dates coincide with the periods traditionally linked to these holidays ( December 22, 2025 to January 7, 2026 for Christmas, and March 30 to April 6, 2026 for Easter), nowhere in the document is there any mention of the traditional denominations.
Inconsistencies in teaching structure
Beyond the elimination of religious references, the new calendar presents chronological mismatches that affect academic coherence. The so-called “First trimester break”, which actually takes place between the fourth and fifth school month, would correspond, strictly speaking, to the second trimester of the academic year.
Similarly, the break period traditionally linked to Easter, now called “Second Quarter Break”, falls between the seventh and eighth month of the school year, which would make it part of the third quarter.
This inconsistency in the nomenclature has been criticized by various sectors, which point out that the new terminology not only avoids religious allusions, but also introduces confusion in the organization of the school year.
No official explanations or political criticism
So far, Emiliano García-Page has not made any public statements explaining or justifying this specific modification in the school calendar. Neither have the opposition parties PP or Vox made direct comments criticizing the elimination of the terms “Christmas” and “Easter”.
Some teaching unions have expressed their opinion, although not in relation to the terminology used, but because of the unequal distribution of school days: 73 in the first trimester versus 55 and 50 in the following two trimesters. From the Department of Education,
The cultural and symbolic debate behind change
The substitution of “Christmas” and “Easter” for neutral terms such as “rest” has not gone unnoticed in an autonomous community with strong Catholic roots. The decision is even more striking considering that García-Page has defined himself on several occasions as a practicing Catholic.
For some sectors, this modification represents a step towards institutional neutrality in a diverse society; for others, it implies a loss of cultural and religious identity that affects traditions deeply rooted in the collective imagination.
The debate is not minor: it affects not only semantic issues, but also the way in which institutions reflect or exclude cultural elements present in everyday life. In this case, eliminating all mention of religious holidays in an official document such as the school calendar raises questions about the secularity of the educational system and the relationship between culture, religion and public administration.
The decision adopted by the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha may not be an isolated event. As the debate on secularism in public institutions progresses, other autonomous communities could follow similar paths, renaming their school calendars with neutral terms to avoid religious references.
