What is "puente"

Puente, a word meaning bridge in Spanish language, may refer to:

Puente is a common surname in the Spanish language meaning "bridge". It is uncommon as a given name. People with the surname include:

• Anahí Puente (born 1983), Mexican actress and singer
• Audrey Puente, meteorologist
• Brian de la Puente (born 1985), American NFL football player
• David Puente, television journalist
• Dorothea Puente (1929–2011), American serial killer
• Isaac Puente (1896–1936), Basque physician
• Luis de la Puente (1554–1624), Spanish Jesuit and spiritual author
• Martina de la Puente (born 1975), Spanish shot putter
• Miguel Puente (born 1948), Mexican baseball player
• Tito Puente (1943–2000), Puerto Rican musician

"Puente" is a latin pop song by Guatemalan recording artist Ricardo Arjona, released on August 9 2010 as the lead single from his twelfth studio album, Poquita Ropa (2010). The song was written by Arjona, who produced it with longtime collaborators Dan Warner and Lee Levin under their stage name Los Gringos. Two versions of the song were made, one of them being a mixture of salsa, merengue along with Cuban music influences; and the other an acoustic version made with piano and percussion.

Lyrically, "Puente" is a song related to the actual situation of Cuba and the immigration to the United States. The song received critical praise, with a critic stating that it "brings the album to an extraordinary conclusion", and received comparisons with Fito Páez song "Habana". Commercially, "Puente" did not attain commercial success, managing only to reach number 36 on the US Billboard Latin Pop Songs chart.

An accompanying music video for "Puente" was released in August 2010. It was directed by Joaquín Cambré and filmed between Mexico and Argentina. The clip, which showcases the problematic issues of migration in Cuba, was filmed by Arjona while he was on the Quinto Piso Tour with the collaboration of children from 5 to 13 age old. As of 11 July 2012, the video has reached 1.4 million views on YouTube.

A puente ( Spanish for bridge) is a holiday in Spain, it is the day off to bridge the time between the weekend and a holiday, thereby creating a long weekend. A puente typically occurs when a holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, workers will then take the Monday or Friday as a puente, a day off. Some businesses will close down altogether.

In 2012, the Spanish government led by Mariano Rajoy, as it was faced with the eurozone crisis, initiated measures to move public holidays to Mondays and Fridays. The aim of the measure was to avoid puentes. Gayle Allard, an economist at IE Business School has said that the measure can improve productivity. The Spanish Catholic Church opposed the measure, which would shuffle the day of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.