For the first time, Costa Rica commemorates with a holiday the day of the Abolition of the Army which is officially December 1st but will be celebrated this year on Monday, November 30 due to the passing of a bill a few months back which moves the national holidays that fall on a weekend or mid-week to Monday with the purpose of having long weekends and promoting national tourism.

President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, signed back in May the Law that declared December 1st as a National Holiday in commemoration of the Abolition of the Army in the country, modifying Article 148 of the Labor Code, making December 1st an unpaid legal holiday, replacing October 12th (Columbus Day or Cultures’ Day).

Back on December 1, 1948, Jose Figueres Ferrer, at the time president of the “Founding Governing Board of the Second Republic” made the announcement of the abolition of the army in front of a group of leaders gathered in the Bellavista Barracks; however, it was the Defense Minister Edgar Cardona who proposed the idea of spending more in education and health instead of weapons and an army, according to former Interior minister Alvaro Ramos.

The day the abolition of the Army was announced, the keys to the military barracks were handed over to the newly founded University of Costa Rica so they could establish the National Museum as a center for anthropological studies.

On October 31, 1949, the National Constituent Assembly incorporated the abolition of the army into Article 12 of the Political Constitution, thereby ensuring the permanent elimination of the Costa Rican army,

By a decree of December 24, 1986, December 1st was declared “Day of the Abolition of the Army” but it wasn’t until May this year that it was recognized as a National Holiday.