According to this Spain is considering a move back to the same time zone as Portugal and the UK, plus remove the afternoon siesta.

They can alter it to down under time for all I care, but they certainly won't be doing away with my Siesta !

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...ong-time-zone/

Its all over the press, but I dont understand the arguments, France is on the same time zone A. Apparently this will fix all the problems in Spain from late nights to divorce rates! Lots of articles showing the Spanish napping. Sounds a bit like a metaphor to me. Spain bashing ?

If Scotland leaves the UK we could skip one single time change and move to CET, then follow suit. I heard we have this, BST, as Scottish farmers need that hour. But looking at this map the UK and Portugal are right, Spain and France are wrong and living in fascist WW2 times

Sounds like a bigger change for Spain, than if we did it, and I wonder if it is oversold.

Jon

I've never been able to get my head around hwo the spaniards have such late social lives and then get up for work in a morning! Then again nowhere seems to start work until after 9-30 and you certainly can't buy anything in ths shops until after 10. Maybe we are just used to the 'english way' 24 hour shopping?

Lots of Chinese Bazaars open whenever they can, but where are the Pakistani corner shops for emergency supplies at unsociable hours, not that I use them much myself, but good to know that they're around just in case.
Now they've even put the block on Sunday opening outside of tourist zones.
Seems like Spain is already moving backwards in time.

We have quite a few little "kiosko" (not actually a kiosk but more like the front room of a house) shops that sell a range of basic groceries plus sweets and drinks, which are open until 10pm at least and most of them open on Sundays as well. Many fruterias also open on Sunday mornings, and there always some bakeries open on Sundays too (in fact we have one in the centre where you can get fresh bread 24/7 via a grille in the wall, even when the shop itself isn't open). Forgot to mention the tobacconist who lives next door to his shop - when the shop is closed, including Sundays, people just drive up, go to the house window and buy their supplies there - a drive through tobacconist!

Mercadona has just extended their opening hours by a whole 30 minutes a day (now open from 9am to 9.30pm, Monday to Saturday)"!

Outside of tourist zones, is there really that much trade to be done on Sundays, enough to warrant people staying open and incurring extra electricity bills, etc. and especially paying staff if they have employees?

My sense is that culturally, Spaniards just aren't into Sunday shopping. We went shopping in Palma last Sunday (where there are lots of stores open on Sunday, major department stores and boutique shops), and found it to be the best shopping experience we've had here. Hardly anyone in the stores. No big crowds and you receive very attentive service. Really great. I think we'll do our shopping on Sundays from now on.

pathetic use of photo of grandad/great grandad catching a nap in the sun doesn't prove anything.

there are many Spanish working for international companies throughout Spain, not just Madrid and Barcelona, who work 9-5 or even to 6, to allow them to communicate with the UK, others work late shift to allow communication with the USA.

Locally in the white villages Yes, they close down at 2 although the bars stay open until 3 or so. But many are back by 4 or 5 until 9pm.
But then we all know how hard it is to motivate yourself during the 2-4 period when the sun is at its hotest down south.

But lets change everything, lets go global, lets all comply with the rest of Europe - just can't see the Germans changing their working days.

`

Agree Domino about the large companies. The Spanish socialising late is a myth. Maybe at fiestas and weekends but all the Spanish neighbours I had were usually in bed by midnight. Even the Lawyer who lived next door left home at 8.30am.

I remember arranging a meal with some Spanish friends and they said, "we can't go there, it's Tuesday, they're closed" "Oh yeh, I forget these bars/restaurants closing on different days. Doesn't happen at home" He asked when they closed in UK then, they don't, open every day of the week, many even Christmas Day. When do they have their día de descanso then? They don't, they open seven days a week. He had trouble following this.

My take on it is that Spaniards are moving very quickly towards typical Western habits, especially Sunday shopping.

I'm in a very rural Spanish area, yet until the authorities put the block on Sunday opening, that was when the local Supermarkets were busiest by far.

It's also noticeable how quickly fast food joints are taking off.
Many of the younger ones must be sick of the sight of the traditional paella and increasingly insist on being taken to the nearest Macs or Kebab joint.

Shortly before the Sunday opening was stopped, a small Sunday market began in the local village.
Now with no other Sunday shopping alternative it has spread out to Mega proportions with thousands coming in from far and wide, the stalls selling various foodstuffs seemingly the busiest of all.

Who wants Sunday shopping?
I just want a the local or national government offices, plus banks to open all day.
Small shops around here do not open sometime between 13.30 and 17.00 then stay open until 21.00
Construction workers build under artificially and poorly lit conditions on dark winter evenings. That is not good for the quality of build.

Agreed. Siesta often screws up the entire day.

Women want Sunday shopping !

Given the opportunity and a purse full of credit cards, I have little doubt many women would love to shop 24/7, Christmas day and every day.

They're known as shopaholics and judging from my own experiences there seems to be a hell of a lot of them about in every single country I've ever visited.

That post could be considered insulting and so sexist. I am glad you live in the 1970s.... Mr Grace