Spanish Siesta Culture Lets Entrepreneur Turn Naps Into Gold (bloomberg.com)

An anonymous reader shares a Bloomberg report: There's little that's more Spanish than the afternoon siesta. As the mid-day sun goes up, businesses in small-town Spain pull down their shutters for a traditional nap. In big urban centers, modern business trends have ended that habit, leaving many Spaniards who work long hours exhausted. Now, Maria Estrella Jorro de Inza has found a way to bring back the siesta, making money while her countrymen nap. Bankers, lawyers and consultants catch up on their sleep at Siesta and Go -- Madrid's first nap-bar located in Azca, in the heart of the city's financial district that's home to firms like HSBC, Google and Deloitte. The concept is simple: for just 14 euros ($16) an hour, you get to unwind and take a power nap in a private bedroom before heading back to work. "It's funny that we're known for the siesta, but we haven't been professional about it," said De Inza, the nap-bar's 32-year-old founder. "We get a lot of men in suits who just want to relax and women wanting to take their heels off. Lunch break is the busiest time."

Comments

Re:Flexiblity during the workday

[tlhIngan]

I wish that more employers whose workers didn't do shift-work or didn't have to work closely with other people were more flexible about downtime during the day. There have been days when a quick 30 minute nap would've really benefited me, but I've seen coworkers get in trouble when discovered asleep at their desks.

I believe there's been scientific study into showing that the siesta isn't just something cultural, but actually human. And afternoon performance does significantly improve after the siesta. It's also not strictly Spanish, for Italy also has it.

There's a natural low in energy around 2pm or so.