While there are no one-day-separated holidays here, it is standard that when a holiday is on a Tuesday or Thursday, we have "long weekends", and one Saturday before or after is converted to workday. (For schools too.)

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

I'd say calling it a "car-based problem" goes to the heart of it!  Soooo...... speaking strictly from an Italian-history-n'-politics viewpoint, I'd say what's wrong with preserving the saints'-days with relative processions/whatever ... means extra personal/human living-time as opposed to bossman's/caesar's worktime -and communal fiestas-of-whatsoever-origin - everything from Viterbo's machine-of-St-Rosa to Siena's Palio - are great collective fun to organise, also get kids into the act feeling they're truly "part of the community" and, in their odd archaic little way, also help people to keep on thinking/feeling in a "community=cooperation=working together NOT for pay =collective creativity" way (yeah I'm ducking under the table as I say this as I can see a furious barrage of objection-brickbats coming!!...;-) )

To solve the cars-problem: so how about we treat it AS SUCH, OK? Why the HECK can't we get/suggest that our local admins. add on extra regional trains for "bridges", ditto special buses to the nearby resort zones (beaches, hill-towns...) all with some kind of festive local tour/food-sampling included in the price!!!???  

Drat it!! - so instead of complaining that saints/fiestas are fostering pollutio, why the heck can't/shouldn't we use these occasions to PROMOTE THE USE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT - as the "in" way to go where we want to go "en masse" - say using trains/buses instead of cooping ourselves up in energy-wasteful, socially-alienating little private mobile compartments helps us socialize, festivize, enriches our life-experience instead of impoverishing and alienating it plus making the air stink and wrecking our balance of payments????

So in other words, why not make our lovely "bridges" a more "progressive" occasion"???

"Ignoring moralities is always undesirable, but doing so systematically is really worrisome." Mohammed Khatami

I can tell you that traffic was horrible on Lisbons exits last night, and yes, it is a "car based problem". So much that the police traffic brigade almost always has extra measures prepared for such occasions.

A suggestion to end bridges was made some time ago, by deslocation the day off from the official day to the next friday or previous monday. As a sort of compensation it was also suggested that when such days happen on a weekend they could be dilocated for friday or monday, also.

This turned out to be unpopular, especially because of religious holidays. I guess people don't care of they celebrate the Republic on the 6th of october instead of the 5th. But Xmas on the 26 or Mardi Gras on a monday? Not so cool...