Add country Argentina (AR)

[cjbarroso]

We need the holiday locale for Argentina.
You can find the goverment issued list of holidays and non-labourable days here.
I can happily provide a script for scrap and convert to any format you need.

[cjbarroso]

A good source that answers all questions except the algorithms for calculations is this: https://www.lanacion.com.ar/feriados

[lauft]

Hello @cjbarroso,

I can happily provide a script for scrap and convert to any format you need.

To add this locale, we need the following:

• Please provide a list of all holidays, i.e. days "which are defined by law on which business or work are suspended or reduced". Please also provide the legal source(s) which define these holidays.
• For each holiday
  • What is the official name?
  • Is it a regional or nation-wide holiday?
  • If regional, what are the regions the holiday is observed in? (Note: currently only regions defined in ISO_3166-2 are supported)
  • Is it a fixed or variable date?
  • If fixed, provide the date in format MM-DD
  • If a holiday has a variable date: What is the algorithm to calculate it? e.g.
    • nth <weekday>/<day> in <month>
    • n days before/after easter
  • If it depends on the easter date: Is it the western or orthodox easter date?
  • If a holiday is proclaimed by the government: Please state the source.
• Are holidays moved to a different date, e.g. if they fall on a saturday/sunday/...? If yes, which holidays and what is the algorithm?
• Are holidays observed on a different date (is there a substitute holiday), e.g. if they fall on a saturday/sunday/...? If yes, which holidays and what is the algorithm?
• Have there been any holidays renamed/deleted/created since 2011? If yes, which ones and since when?

With this data we can then flesh out the Locale

[elamperti]

• Please provide a list of all holidays, i.e. days "which are defined by law on which business or work are suspended or reduced". Please also provide the legal source(s) which define these holidays.

Official list of holidays: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/interior/feriados

This list is defined during the previous year. It's different each year, as several holidays are moved around.

• For each holiday
  • What is the official name?
  • Is it a regional or nation-wide holiday?

All holidays are nation-wide, although some of them are for certain religions (for the purposes of this API, if there's no way to mark them, they should be skipped).

• If regional, what are the regions the holiday is observed in? (Note: currently only regions defined in ISO_3166-2 are supported)
• Is it a fixed or variable date?

Some of them are variable dates.

• If fixed, provide the date in format MM-DD
• If a holiday has a variable date: What is the algorithm to calculate it? e.g.
  • nth / in
  • n days before/after easter
• If it depends on the easter date: Is it the western or orthodox easter date?
• If a holiday is proclaimed by the government: Please state the source.

All holidays in the site above are officially declared by the government.

• Are holidays moved to a different date, e.g. if they fall on a saturday/sunday/...? If yes, which holidays and what is the algorithm?

There's no clear definition for it in this country, it depends on government definitions. Your best bet is to query the site and check where they land.

• Are holidays observed on a different date (is there a substitute holiday), e.g. if they fall on a saturday/sunday/...? If yes, which holidays and what is the algorithm?

Some of them are.

• Have there been any holidays renamed/deleted/created since 2011? If yes, which ones and since when?

They change every year.

---

@lauft I made a snippet to scrap the holiday list from the official site, although it's on js, I think you (or someone willing to create a PR in this repo!) may adapt it to what you need here: https://gist.github.com/elamperti/85a539d9b721cdb5dd5cf09f1f084398
(you may copy-paste the whole gist into your web browser's console in the official site and get an array with objects specifying date, holiday name and if it is fixed, variable or optional).

Feel free to add me as reviewer if needed in the PR for this locale.

[lauft]

@elamperti @cjbarroso The aim of holidata is not to scrape holiday dates from other websites and present them, but to algorithmically calculate the holiday dates based on the laws that define them. (Although it can use such data for cross-checking - see below)

The official site mentions Ley 27.399 (LAW ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HOLIDAYS AND LONG WEEKENDS) which lists the national immobile holidays and the national transfer holidays as well as the non working days and the rules for the long weekends. IMHO This is the point where we have to start from, translating the specifications mentioned in the law into the es-AR locale.

If you can provide the holiday data, preferrable for all years from 2011 to 2021, we can use it to create a test base and develop the locale against that, e.g.

2020-01-01 Año Nuevo
2020-02-24 Carnaval
2020-02-25 Carnaval
2020-03-23 Feriado Puente Turístico
2020-03-24 Día Nacional de la Memoria por la Verdad y la Justicia
2020-03-31 Día del Veterano y de los Caídos en la Guerra de Malvinas
2020-04-09 Jueves Santo
2020-04-10 Viernes Santo
2020-05-01 Día del Trabajador
2020-05-25 Día de la Revolución-05
2020-06-15 Paso a la Inmortalidad del Gral. Güemes
2020-06-20 Paso a la Inmortalidad del General Manuel Belgrano
2020-07-09 Día de la Independencia
2020-07-10 Feriado Puente Turístico
2020-08-17 Paso a la Inmortalidad del General José de San Martín
2020-10-12 Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural
2020-11-23 Día de la Sobernía Nacional
2020-12-07 Feriado Puente Turístico
2020-12-08 Inmaculada Concepción de María
2020-12-25 Navidad

[elamperti]

@lauft I think you are underestimating the chaotic nature of argentinean politics: yes, there is a law to determine holidays, but it is modified from one year to other depending on political decisions. Bridge holidays depend on several (human) factors and weight of tourism, economy and education. Considering the impact of COVID-19 this year, I expect to see more changes for next year.

As I mentioned earlier, some of the dates are fixed (new year, christmas, independence day and a few others). Carnival days can be calculated based on easter (but bridge days around them will vary non-deterministically year to year). Other days won't be possible to calculate and, again, your best bet there will be to follow the official website.

Some holidays are recent, for example "Paso a la Inmortalidad del Gral. Güemes" was introduced in 2016, "Día de la Sobernía Nacional" was moved around in 2015. Flag day (20/jun) was declared a fixed-date holiday in 2017.

I wish it were as easy as creating a set of rules or just reading a law once, but it's a live and breathing beast.

If scraping is not an option, the locale should be maintained -at least- yearly to update dates, and considering how fast things have changed here before, the API couldn't be trusted. I don't know if there's a viable solution for this case.

[lauft]

@elamperti You are 100% right, but do not think I underestimate the task! 😉

Scraping is definitely not an option. Instead of just copying the dates from other sources, holidata goes back to the roots by incorporating the laws/decrees that define the holidays and reproduces the dates from there.

So I expected that there will be maintenance, as with every other locale. The trick is to keep it minimal.

So why doing the same process as the official site? For one scraping heavily depends on the API's stability and a website is definetly a live and breathing beast compared to standard interfaces (REST/SOAP/...) - and also those can be pretty nasty. So there is maintenance in any case...
Also, this way holidata does not run the risk of being accused of plagiarism. Laws have to be publicly available by design - they are meant to be copied, so to say... 😄 (the case is different sometimes/in some countries with old/obsolete decrees, but that is another topic)
Eventually, you will have to look at the laws in any case if you want to confirm that the output is correct, so why not do it in the first place? (And a benefit of relying on the laws as the source of truth is also this way holidata can always explain why date X is a holiday.)

A daring endeavour? Yes, indeed. Feasible? Let's take it step by step!

As proposed I would start with Ley 27.399. This gives the basis for 2017 and following. Article 6 defines the rule how the transferrable holidays have to be shifted, so we are good here. The tricky part comes with Article 7:

The national Executive Power may, in addition to what is established in the previous article, set annually up to three (3) holidays or non-working days destined to promote tourism, which must coincide with Monday or Friday. The national Executive Power must establish them fifty (50) days before the end of the calendar year.

Here we have to dig out all the decrees (like Decreto 717/2019) and incorporate them as well. And this will be be the regular maintenance task for this locale: Checking 50 days before the end of the calendar year for such a decree and encode into holidata.

For start we can focus on 2020, but holidata provides the data of all locales since 2011 and I would hate es-AR to be an exception.

[Tinchops]

Hi, I hope it helps to complete the data from 2011.

2011 - Source: Google
New Year's Day Dec 31, 2010 – Jan 1, 2011
Shrove Monday Mon, Mar 7, 2011
Shrove Tuesday Tue, Mar 8, 2011
Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice Mar 24 – 25, 2011
Malvinas Day Sat, Apr 2, 2011
Maundy Thursday Thu, Apr 21, 2011
Good Friday Fri, Apr 22, 2011
Labour Day Sun, May 1, 2011
First National Government Wed, May 25, 2011
Flag Day Mon, Jun 20, 2011
Argentina Independence Day Sat, Jul 9, 2011
Anniversary of the death of General José de San Martín Mon, Aug 15, 2011
Day of the Races Mon, Oct 10, 2011
National Sovereignty Day Mon, Nov 28, 2011
Feast of the Immaculate Conception Dec 8 – 9, 2011
Christmas Eve Sat, Dec 24, 2011
Christmas Day Sun, Dec 25, 2011
New Year's Day Dec 31, 2011 – Jan 1, 2012

2012 - Source: Google
New Year's Day Dec 31, 2011 – Jan 1, 2012
Shrove Monday Mon, Feb 20, 2012
Shrove Tuesday Tue, Feb 21, 2012
Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice Sat, Mar 24, 2012
Malvinas Day Mon, Apr 2, 2012
Maundy Thursday Thu, Apr 5, 2012
Good Friday Fri, Apr 6, 2012
Labour Day Tue, May 1, 2012
First National Government Fri, May 25, 2012
Flag Day Wed, Jun 20, 2012
Argentina Independence Day Mon, Jul 9, 2012
Anniversary of the death of General José de San Martín Mon, Aug 20, 2012
Day of the Races Mon, Oct 8, 2012
National Sovereignty Day Mon, Nov 26, 2012
Feast of the Immaculate Conception Sat, Dec 8, 2012
Christmas Eve Mon, Dec 24, 2012
Christmas Day Dec 24 – 25, 2012

2013 - Source: Google
New Year's Day Tue, Jan 1, 2013
Shrove Monday Mon, Feb 11, 2013
Shrove Tuesday Tue, Feb 12, 2013
Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice Sun, Mar 24, 2013
Maundy Thursday Thu, Mar 28, 2013
Good Friday Fri, Mar 29, 2013
Malvinas Day Apr 1 – 2, 2013
Labour Day Wed, May 1, 2013
First National Government Sat, May 25, 2013
Flag Day Thu, Jun 20, 2013
Argentina Independence Day Tue, Jul 9, 2013
Anniversary of the death of General José de San Martín Mon, Aug 19, 2013
Day of the Races Mon, Oct 14, 2013
National Sovereignty Day Mon, Nov 25, 2013
Feast of the Immaculate Conception Sun, Dec 8, 2013
Christmas Eve Tue, Dec 24, 2013
Christmas Day Wed, Dec 25, 2013
New Year's Day Dec 31, 2013 – Jan 1, 2014

2014 - Source: Google
New Year's Day Dec 31, 2013 – Jan 1, 2014
Shrove Monday Mon, Mar 3, 2014
Shrove Tuesday Tue, Mar 4, 2014
Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice Mon, Mar 24, 2014
Malvinas Day Wed, Apr 2, 2014
Maundy Thursday Thu, Apr 17, 2014
Good Friday Fri, Apr 18, 2014
Labour Day Thu, May 1, 2014
First National Government Sun, May 25, 2014
Flag Day Fri, Jun 20, 2014
Argentina Independence Day Wed, Jul 9, 2014
Anniversary of the death of General José de San Martín Mon, Aug 18, 2014
Day of the Races Mon, Oct 13, 2014
National Sovereignty Day Mon, Nov 24, 2014
Feast of the Immaculate Conception Mon, Dec 8, 2014
Christmas Eve Wed, Dec 24, 2014
Christmas Day Dec 25 – 26, 2014
New Year's Day Dec 31, 2014 – Jan 2, 2015

2015 - Source: Google
New Year's Day Dec 31, 2014 – Jan 2, 2015
Shrove Monday Mon, Feb 16, 2015
Shrove Tuesday Tue, Feb 17, 2015
Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice Mar 23 – 24, 2015
Malvinas Day Thu, Apr 2, 2015
Maundy Thursday Thu, Apr 2, 2015
Good Friday Fri, Apr 3, 2015
Labour Day Fri, May 1, 2015
First National Government Mon, May 25, 2015
Flag Day Sat, Jun 20, 2015
Argentina Independence Day Jul 9 – 10, 2015
Anniversary of the death of General José de San Martín Mon, Aug 17, 2015
Day of the Races Mon, Oct 12, 2015
National Sovereignty Day Mon, Nov 23, 2015
Feast of the Immaculate Conception Dec 7 – 8, 2015
Christmas Eve Thu, Dec 24, 2015
Christmas Day Fri, Dec 25, 2015

2016 - Source: Google
New Year's Day Fri, Jan 1, 2016
Shrove Monday Mon, Feb 8, 2016
Shrove Tuesday Tue, Feb 9, 2016
Maundy Thursday Thu, Mar 24, 2016
Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice Mar 24 – 25, 2016
Good Friday Fri, Mar 25, 2016
Malvinas Day Sat, Apr 2, 2016
Labour Day Sun, May 1, 2016
First National Government Wed, May 25, 2016
Anniversary of General Martín Miguel de Güemes' Death Fri, Jun 17, 2016
Flag Day Mon, Jun 20, 2016
Argentina Independence Day Jul 8 – 9, 2016
Anniversary of the death of General José de San Martín Mon, Aug 15, 2016
Day of the Races Mon, Oct 10, 2016
National Sovereignty Day Mon, Nov 28, 2016
Feast of the Immaculate Conception Dec 8 – 9, 2016
Christmas Eve Sat, Dec 24, 2016
Christmas Day Sun, Dec 25, 2016

2017 - Source: Google
New Year's Day Sun, Jan 1, 2017
Shrove Monday Mon, Feb 27, 2017
Shrove Tuesday Tue, Feb 28, 2017
Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice Fri, Mar 24, 2017
Malvinas Day Sun, Apr 2, 2017
Maundy Thursday Thu, Apr 13, 2017
Good Friday Fri, Apr 14, 2017
Labour Day Mon, May 1, 2017
First National Government May 25 – 26, 2017
Anniversary of General Martín Miguel de Güemes' Death Sat, Jun 17, 2017
Flag Day Tue, Jun 20, 2017
Argentina Independence Day Sun, Jul 9, 2017
Anniversary of the death of General José de San Martín Mon, Aug 21, 2017
Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity Mon, Oct 16, 2017
Bank Workers’ Day Mon, Nov 6, 2017
National Sovereignty Day Mon, Nov 20, 2017
Feast of the Immaculate Conception Fri, Dec 8, 2017
Christmas Eve Sun, Dec 24, 2017
Christmas Day Mon, Dec 25, 2017

2018 - Source: Google
New Year's Day Mon, Jan 1, 2018
Shrove Monday Mon, Feb 12, 2018
Shrove Tuesday Tue, Feb 13, 2018
Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice Sat, Mar 24, 2018
Maundy Thursday Thu, Mar 29, 2018
Good Friday Fri, Mar 30, 2018
Malvinas Day Mon, Apr 2, 2018
Labour Day Tue, May 1, 2018
First National Government Fri, May 25, 2018
Anniversary of General Martín Miguel de Güemes' Death Sun, Jun 17, 2018
Flag Day Wed, Jun 20, 2018
Argentina Independence Day Mon, Jul 9, 2018
Anniversary of the death of General José de San Martín Mon, Aug 20, 2018
Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity Mon, Oct 15, 2018
Bank Workers’ Day Tue, Nov 6, 2018
National Sovereignty Day Mon, Nov 19, 2018
Feast of the Immaculate Conception Sat, Dec 8, 2018
Christmas Eve Mon, Dec 24, 2018
Christmas Day Dec 24 – 25, 2018

2019 - Source: Google
New Year's Day Tue, Jan 1, 2019
Shrove Monday Mon, Mar 4, 2019
Shrove Tuesday Tue, Mar 5, 2019
Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice Sun, Mar 24, 2019
Malvinas Day Apr 1 – 2, 2019
Maundy Thursday Thu, Apr 18, 2019
Good Friday Fri, Apr 19, 2019
Labour Day Wed, May 1, 2019
First National Government Sat, May 25, 2019
Anniversary of General Martín Miguel de Güemes' Death Mon, Jun 17, 2019
Flag Day Thu, Jun 20, 2019
Argentina Independence Day Jul 8 – 9, 2019
Anniversary of the death of General José de San Martín Mon, Aug 19, 2019
Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity Mon, Oct 14, 2019
Bank Workers’ Day Wed, Nov 6, 2019
National Sovereignty Day Mon, Nov 18, 2019
Feast of the Immaculate Conception Sun, Dec 8, 2019
Christmas Eve Tue, Dec 24, 2019
Christmas Day Wed, Dec 25, 2019

2020 - Source: Google
New Year's Day Wed, Jan 1, 2020
Shrove Monday Mon, Feb 24, 2020
Shrove Tuesday Tue, Feb 25, 2020
Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice Mar 23 – 24, 2020
Malvinas Day Tue, Mar 31, 2020
Maundy Thursday Thu, Apr 9, 2020
Good Friday Fri, Apr 10, 2020
Labour Day Fri, May 1, 2020
First National Government Mon, May 25, 2020
Anniversary of General Martín Miguel de Güemes' Death Mon, Jun 15, 2020
Flag Day Sat, Jun 20, 2020
Argentina Independence Day Jul 9 – 10, 2020
Anniversary of the death of General José de San Martín Mon, Aug 17, 2020
Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity Mon, Oct 12, 2020
Bank Workers’ Day Fri, Nov 6, 2020
National Sovereignty Day Mon, Nov 23, 2020
Feast of the Immaculate Conception Dec 7 – 8, 2020
Christmas Eve Thu, Dec 24, 2020
Christmas Day Dec 24 – 25, 2020
New Year's Day Dec 31, 2020 – Jan 1, 2021

2021 - Source: Google
New Year's Day Dec 31, 2020 – Jan 1, 2021
Shrove Monday Mon, Feb 15, 2021
Shrove Tuesday Tue, Feb 16, 2021
Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice Wed, Mar 24, 2021
Maundy Thursday Thu, Apr 1, 2021
Good Friday Fri, Apr 2, 2021
Malvinas Day Fri, Apr 2, 2021
Labour Day Sat, May 1, 2021
First National Government Tue, May 25, 2021
Flag Day Sun, Jun 20, 2021
Anniversary of General Martín Miguel de Güemes' Death Mon, Jun 21, 2021
Argentina Independence Day Fri, Jul 9, 2021
Anniversary of the death of General José de San Martín Mon, Aug 16, 2021
Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity Mon, Oct 11, 2021
Bank Workers’ Day Sat, Nov 6, 2021
National Sovereignty Day Mon, Nov 22, 2021
Feast of the Immaculate Conception Wed, Dec 8, 2021
Christmas Eve Fri, Dec 24, 2021
Christmas Day Sat, Dec 25, 2021

Regards.

[elamperti]

Good luck trying to infer holidays from a law: just two weeks ago the government canceled a bridge holiday only to restore it 3 days before the actual date. It's a complete mess and just getting dates from laws is not feasible (just look at the holidays listed above). I do understand scrapping an official site is not the way holidata wants to handle it, but I see no other reliable way to do it really.

[tbabej]

I largely authored this Python-based algorithmic holiday generator so that this would not be needed, and hence I hate to suggest that, but maybe we could just create a Locale that has:

• the holidays that are really consistent (at least Christmas and New Years seem to be, by a cursory glance) defined algorithmically
• the rest of the holidays that are not consistent hardcoded in some sort of a dictionary within this Locale's class, grouped per year of applicability