TIME, Gentlemen, Please

 R E V I S E D  ´  11 / X I / 2008

My assertion is that there are severe consequences for everyone in Spain which result merely from the unknown nature of the effects of having the following:

1) principally, summertime of one hour and more on the Spanish clocks in WINTER!  (i.e., clocks already one hour forward of normal in Winter on GMT + 1).

2) further hazards for everyone for having "double summertime" of two hours and more in Summer! (that is: two hours forward of normal in Summer on GMT + 2).

3) experts in Spain have no knowledge it appears of the exact manner in which such a bizarre situation in Spain has arisen on the clocks over the period of 1830 to 1918.  (Specific changes on the clock and their effects not taught at any time in the Education  System - except to navigators and astronomers). 

4) concerning everybody, there is little knowledge of the strange delay in time of most activities in Spain. (Everyone assumes that the delays are a tradition in Spain - but not so, it was since only 1918! - when the two hours or more were put on the clockwork - but effectively ignored for the most part!).

5. almost complete indifference of the public to the strange time factors and their effects on daily life in Spain! (Errors concerning time both on public clocks and for events are not of much concern to anyone! For the whole year the bells of the Cathedral in Cadiz have been pealing out British Summertime instead of the Spanish one !).

6. The Administration in Spain has persuaded the prime TV News channel rtve 1 to have a special program item in it´s news on the day of the initiation of the “wintertime” in Europe (Sunday 26 October). The favourable propaganda for the “beginning of the SPANISH double summertime” in 1974 (sic !) was bad enough for the principal expert in Spain to respond vigorously on the other popular news channel Telecinco on the morning of 29 October – to convey his ideas on changes required (his solution not being too sensible for Spain, which appears to be the abolition of the Siesta for workers !).

7)  In General, it is the viciousness of TIME in the mornings that is most apparent for almost everyone that works in Spain  - except for those in the shops! (The problems occur for the most part in the hours before sunrise for too much of the year, so I guess that you might not be too affected! ). I would like to make it clear that this does seem to be a vice for the future for folks in Spain - not just for now!  For the most part, mornings are unnecessarily very dark in September, October, December, January and the beginning of April ! The expert in 6) above, the President of the National Independent Commission for the “Rationalisation” of Working Hours in Spain, Sr. Don Ignacio Buqueras y Bach, emphasised in a news broadcast on tve 1 in December 2005 that sleepy somnolescence was rife in Spain during school and work mornings – and proposed a later start was essential!

Over the past years, since 2004, I have been trying to convey the substance of that particular property of the clocks in Spain to newspapers and officialdom, generally in the Costas of Sol and Luz.

Everyone seems to believe, I suspect, that the Spanish clocks tell a true time and that it makes no difference at all that the clocks here show the time which they might be told also holds in Berlin and Rome . . . but, in Summer, Berlin uses its own Summertime - and that extra one hour has to mean that it is  the true sunclock time in Istanbul, Turkey  -  that holds on the clocks of most of the OLD European Union countries) and can only mean 2 1/2 hours extra added to the realtime sunclock time in Cadiz!  This can be seen from Cocinero´s Timetable for the Occidental High Noon Express. (Legally in Spain, it corresponds to 2 hours extra on the East Coast of Spain, which can be assumed to be at Castellon, near Valencia) .

My investigation led to the conclusion that the complete history of how the situations to be described below, came to exist in Spain is neither well known nor taught to pupils at any stage in the Education System. That becomes almost obvious from the recent history of the Cadiz Time Meridian Longitude as described by the historian Francisco Ponce Cordones of Rota, pcia. Cadiz, where no mention is made of the two major almost permanent changes in the clocktime of Spain since about 1910 - the second one as early as 1918! (The latter was repeated in 1974)

It is also very apparent that children are mistakenly taught that the times of 12:00 - both in the nighttime and the daytime have some special significance in Spain – when in reality the centre of the night or daytime in Spain, particularly in Summer, is closely connected with the officially termed “Culmination of the Sun Time”, some 2 to 2 ½ hours later than 12:00 hours, (1 to 1 1/2 hours later in Winter).

Another seemingly unknown to experts here  (especially dermatologists away from Cadiz)  is the added effect on the realtime that appears officially based in obscurity on the the change to Greenwich 0º meridian from that of Cadiz - and is thus valid for the East Coast at Castellon, near Valencia on the other side of Spain - which produces that extra 1/2 hour just mentioned for Cadiz - since it appears that the Sun reaches the West necessarily later than it does in Castellon!

Other problems arise from the clock time in Spain - and such problems have grown gradually more evident as more of the population (and foreign residents) are increasingly involved in rush hours, being on the beach, still not aware how late in the afternoon the Sun is most powerful, at work having an incredibly early lunch - so that they gain much weight by being hungrier than usual more later in the afternoon.   Both workers and schoolchildren were said by the Comision Nacional, "En Hora" to be dull, or drowsy in the early morning - even when workers are in hazardous situations in construction sites - or operating complicated machinery { as in 7) above}.

This is the result:

a) Melanomas and Skin Cancer are proliferating in the Costa del Sol ("SURinENGLISH" March, 2007).

b) Very high traffic accident statistics for the abnormal dark mornings in Spain (but NOT in Portugal because clocks are on GMT in Winter there)

c) Children in Cadiz Province being more overweight (& the Adults!) than others in Spain - Commerce wants lunches to be very early in the morning in realtime. Not only that, they are rather drowsy in the morning school sessions - because they start far too early in the realtime mornings !

d) Energy is NO Longer saved by Double Summertime because of so much lighting on the 1000´s of kilometres of main roads - to prevent commuters from falling to sleep while driving to work (SCHOOL Buses also are driven to the schools before sunrise for too much of the year). (Direccion General de Trafico has been showing on TV a driver nodding drowsily - but in daylight!).

The newspaper in Cadiz has reported around February with a full breakdown of a day with 37 deaths on the roads last year and it reported that 35% of the deaths occurred in the period of "midnight" to 7:00 am - which for much of the year is before sunrise in most of Spain. ( There are not many such full breakdown reports to be found ).

e) Seemingly coming to the fore in the news are the very bad statistics for industrial accidents and accidents on construction sites in Spain!   I specifically mentioned in my submission to the "Comision Nacional" (En hora!) that the ridiculously early start to the working day (say as "late" as 08:00 hours HOP) in Winter - which in realtime in Cadiz is at 06:30 (solar) hours - before sunrise ( at 08:45 hours HOP) - is a real factor in assessing the ability of workers aware enough at such times to function safely !

f) The numbers of visitors accommodated in rooms in Spain has been falling recently (but before the financial crisis) - but in Turkey and Egypt in particular, and I would believe in Central Mediterranean too, the accommodation factor has increased by up to 17% - as reported by newspaper "Viva-Cadiz". 

Here is the latest on factor f)

  SUR in English article predicting the downturn later in October, 2008.

Item in General News titled: "All the eggs in the same basket"
By A. S. T.
´ EXTRACT:
"Building and tourism have traditionally been the basis of the Costa del Sol ’s economy. But new data questions the wisdom of this dependence . . . "

" . . . Tourism is the fuel feeding the construction industry, and tourism has decreased – or not increased at the same rate as in previous years - in the province over recent years . . ."
END of Extract.

´ NOW ´ the impresarios are saying that Turkey and Egypt are gaining more visitors in the competition with Spain. The fact that those countries have the right time on their clocks must be a great relief factor for tourists! (See REVISION in the first posting above in this Forum showing the decline in AUGUST 2008 of various nationalities as non resident "overnight stays" (multiple!) ).

Here follows a not-too-difficult demo of the situation in the Mediterranean:

ALEXANDRIA, E G Y P T:
31.2° N 30.0° E
Sun Rise and Set Times for August 1, 2008:

Local Time: ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ Sun Rise: ´ ´ ´ ´ ´Sun Set:
(Normal Summertime)6:17 AM EEST ´ ´ 7:55 PM EEST ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ Midday at 12:06 HOP (13:06 EEST)

EEST is Eastern European SummerTime (45º East of Greenwich) - or HOP + 1 - where HOP is the summertime Spanish Time.

For these first two quoted cases, it is a good idea to be extra careful about the strength of the Sun at about ONE o´CLOCK on their summertime clocks. (that is, to follow the oft-quoted "11 am to 3 pm" advice from London - which, after all the fuss, is still applicable to a country which has a sensible ONE hour extra on it´s clocks! - while Spain & France have TWO extra hours present during the Summer!).

@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @

ANTALYA Airport, T U R K E Y:
36.7° N 30.7° E
Sun Rise and Set Times for August 1, 2008:

Local Time: ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ Sun Rise: ´ ´ ´ ´ ´Sun Set:
(Normal Summertime) 6:03 AM EEST ´ ´ 8:03 PM EEST ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ Midday at 12:03 HOP (13:03 EEST)

@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @

ALICANTE Airport, S P A I N:
38.3° N 0.6° W
Sun Rise and Set Times for August 1, 2008:

Local Time: ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ Sun Rise: ´ ´ ´ ´ ´Sun Set:
(Double Summertime) 7:04 AM HOP ´ ´ 9:11 PM HOP ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ Midday at 14:07 HOP

HOP is the summertime Spanish Time. 

On the Eastern side of Spain - and in the Canary Islands, because of the "double summertime" it is a good idea to be extra careful about the strength of the Sun at about TWO o´CLOCK in Summer. (that is, ´ N O T ´ to follow the oft-quoted "11 am to 3 pm" advice from London). But, in the West of both Spain and France - because the Earth & the Sun do NOT obey Spanish Law concerning the two hours - but agree to be late - you must be careful around HALF PAST TWO, or 14:30 / 2:30 pm!

As for a), above,  I have summarised the situation by:

Some Sayings relevant to the strange timings on the Spanish Clocks, and their influence on the insufficient Guidance from http://www.CancerresearchUK.org ( Officially, 11 am to 3 pm is only valid on the Mainland of Great Britain!).

´ ´ Sirdani, BBC Steam Radio (catchphrase, to competition participants)

´ ´ ´ ´ ´ " Don´t ´ be ´ Fried ! "

´ ´ My own contributions:

´ ´ ´ ´ ´ Clocks in Spain 
´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´Let Your Brain 
´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ Take the Strain !

. . . and . . .

 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ If you want to know the time,
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ - Ask a Politician !

Corollary:
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ If you want to know which Time Zone,
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ - Ask a Politician !

 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ Watch that CLOCK in SPAIN!:
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ It is ´ E A R L I E R ´ than you think !

 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ In SPAIN, Man must bide
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´Waiting for Time and Tide !

´ ´ ´ ´ ´ Try not to wake up
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´TOO EARLY in the morning !

´  In Summer, the Sun always rises very early in the morning
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ - EVEN in Spain !

´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ( If you see some of the "realtime" times that I quote
´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´- then, for summertime´s sake,
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´you may add ONE hour to them! )

´ ´ ´ ´ ´ The clock in Madrid
´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´Lies mainly
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´Through cog teeth !

  ´ ´ ´ ´ IT´S the astronomers who set the clocks
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´BUT always with their heads above the clouds
´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ - THEY cannot see what´s below the clouds !

 ´ ´ Noel Coward, (1920´s) - paraphrased:

 ´ ´ ´ ´ "Mad Dogs of Britishmen go out in the High Noon Sun,
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ - out in the High Noon
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ - out in the High Noon
 ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ ´ - out in the High Noon SUN !"

IS THE SUNBATHER FOR BURNING ?


There wás a sunbáther who vísited Spáin
Who ónly had púrpose - a súntan to gáin
He´d sít in the sháde at a tíme known at hóme.
( Great sháme that the ríght time is NOT in this póem,
But typical thát is, for pápers in Spáin! ).


That time is known to be at the above-stated time of "Culmination" - or at 2:00pm to 2:30pm in Summer in Spain  (about 1:00pm to 1:30pm - especially in late Winter).