Say Goodbye To Spain's Glorious Three-Hour Lunch Break (citylab.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: Is the typical Spanish daily schedule about to change forever? For decades, campaigners in the country have complained that the average Spaniard's habit of keeping extremely late hours and taking delightfully long lunch breaks was making everyday life harder for citizens. This week, change could finally be on the way, as 110 professional bodies in Catalonia have signed up to a plan to change the region's daily timetable by 2025, shortening the classic three-hour lunch break so that employees can finish work earlier in the evening. Such a change would radically reshape ordinary people's lives -- and controversially, it could drive a wedge between Catalonia and the rest of Spain, where the national government supports similar changes (and has adopted a shorter break for public offices) but hasn't yet fixed a timetable for action. You could call the plan an end to national harmony, a blessed release for hard-pressed workers, or an attack on the Spanish way of life. Whatever you do, however, don't call it the end of the siesta. That's because the beloved and much-misunderstood Spanish tradition of the afternoon nap more or less died out decades ago. What remained is a highly distinctive national timetable not found in any other European country, where it has often been read as a peculiarly exotic form of madness. The average Spanish working day is certainly unusual in shape. After starting work between 8 and 9 a.m., hungry workers hold out for a lunch break scheduled as late as 1:30 or 2:30. As if in compensation for this long wait, many then stay off-duty for a break of up to three hours, filling it with a protracted multi-course lunch and maybe a stop at a "nap bar." Most stores and many businesses close down until the late afternoon, before a final burst of office hours between 5:30 and 8 (or sometimes 4 to 7). Spaniards then head home at an hour when most people in other countries are cleaning up their dinner dishes, rarely getting food on the table any earlier than 10 p.m. This pushes bedtime past midnight for many.

Comments

Re:Is there any actual benefit to that schedule?

[omnichad]

What's insane is that they decided they still need an 8-hour day. Why not 6 hours with a 3-hour break in the middle? I bet it would be more productive (if not at least equal) than 8 hours with a 1-hour break in the middle.

The Siesta only works if...

[Anonymous Coward]

The Siesta only works if you work close enough that you can go home during it. If you have to commute long distances to get to work, so that you can't realistically go home during the workday, there's literally zero reason why any rational person should want to take a 3-hour lunch, especially when 2 of those 3 hours could be spent at home with family at the end of the day.

If you want to be competitive with US and India

[OrangeTide]

You can't compete in the modern global market if you don't adopt the lowest possible standards. So you'll need to switch over to 55 hour work weeks, 2 or less weeks per year vacation, and no government healthcare. (US uses private insurance, for India it is typically paid out of pocket)

I call B.S.

[rsilvergun]

they'll lose their 3 hour lunch break and still have to work late.

Not true

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm Spanish and the article talks about shop opening hours. Practically NOBODY has more than one hour for lunch. WTF are these guys talking about?

Catalonia and the rest of Spain

[thegarbz]

it could drive a wedge between Catalonia and the rest of Spain

I think this may be kind of the point. Catalonia has done a lot to try and distance itself from the rest of Spain, by passing local laws in direct contradiction to the opinion of much of Spain, e.g. as states were passing laws to protect bullfighting, Catalonia passed laws to ban it. Plus there's the whole independence referendum thing and the several constitutional challenges that were fought on keeping Catalonia as part of Spain.