Hey everyone!
Spring has sprung, the rains have come.
Holy Week is right around the corner.
And apparently there was a partial solar eclipse yesterday, but I must have missed it.
Either way, the march of time continues.
It’s the 10th year of the reign of His Serene Majesty Felipe VI, the third month of 2025 according to the Gregorian calendar, and the Chinese year of the snake.
(I try to make my articles evergreen, but it doesn’t always work as expected. More on that later.)
Today I want to talk about the Spanish schedule.
The time zone, the controversy around daylight saving(s) time, the late nights and even later mornings – it’s all on the table. As is the influence of Hitler on Spain’s foreign policy, the legacy of Franco’s dictatorship, Elon Musk’s heartfelt gesture of a couple months ago, Kanye West’s latest shenanigans…
And much more. So read on.
Spain on Central European Time
Years ago, I wrote about the Spanish timetable.
About how we’re in the Central European time zone, despite Spain being geographically south of London – all of which means it’s light till 10:30 PM in summer and dark till 9 AM in winter.
I also wrote about the government’s occasional promises to end the daylight saving scheme, and move us into the right time zone for a better use of natural light.
I called the article: Spanish Timetable Getting You Down? Blame Hitler!
In previous years, I’ve tried to redo that article, but it’s a product of its time. The Partido Popular was in power back then, and we were in the middle of that massive economic crisis that lasted for about six years.
People in those days thought that maybe Spain’s efficiency problems could be solved by a change in time zone.
Get people into bed earlier, wake up earlier, and we’ll magically become Switzerland and double our salaries. Or something like that.
Franco, Hitler, and the Spanish Time Zone
Doing the research back in 2013, I found that the original reason that Spain was in the same time zone as Germany may have been (Spanish dictator) Francisco Franco’s desire to cozy up to Hitler during World War II.
Franco and Hitler met only once, at a train station in Hendaye, on the Spanish-French border.
This was in October 1940, and Hitler wanted to talk about the possibility of the Spanish entering the war on the side of the Axis powers.
What actually happened in the meeting is still debated here in Spain. Perhaps Franco was so unreasonable and annoying that even Hitler couldn’t stand him. Or – and I like this second explanation better – “Franco, the master negotiator, demanded so many concessions from Germany that it was easier for the Führer to just drop the matter”.
Either way, Spain stayed out of World War II. As a result, Franco was alive (and in power) for another 35 years.
And here we are.
Modern, European Spain… apparently stuck in the Central European time zone, and with no way of getting out. All this despite the 80 years since the end of the war, and the 50 years since Franco’s death.
It’s an interesting story, but maybe not true. Today I found an article on the BBC that quotes an astronomer named Pere Planesas, who doubts that Hitler had anything to do with the time zone change. It may simply have been intended to improve the economy in times of general scarcity.
In any case, it happened a few months before the meeting at Hendaye, and people have connected the time zone change to Nazism for decades.
Nazis… Nazis everywhere!
A few other things have changed since my previous article about the Spanish time zone, making a lot of what I said back then obsolete or otherwise unfunny.
Consider, please, the following…
- In the (approximately) 12 years since the original piece, I’ve gotten thoroughly sick of reporting on what the government claims it’s “going to” do. Most of it never happens, but I didn’t know that at the time.
- Telling people to “blame Hitler” was funnier back then, but now, it seems to fall flat. People are comparing everything to Hitler, all the time, so the joke just doesn’t work anymore.
From Elon Musk’s “heartfelt gesture” at the January 2025 inauguration to the constant “just like Hitler would have done” comments every time the President signs an executive order, the Nazis are having a bit of a moment.
(Don’t even get me started on Kanye West, and his coming out as a full-fledged fan of the party. Yuck.)
So you can read the old article if you want, but I no longer like it. That’s why I’m writing today.
Because it’s another spring out here in beautiful Spain, and as we set the clocks forward for Daylight Saving Time, I thought it would be interesting to revisit the issue.
Is the EU keeping us in the dark?
Around 2018, the EU issued a recommendation that countries should stop changing time zones twice a year. And the government promised to follow through.
But like I said: they do very little of what they say they will, and what does get done is done badly. So, logically, they did nothing.
Then the pandemic happened, and they spent more than 2 years telling people it was dangerous to go outside.
What does the position of the sun matter, anyway? You could get a deadly virus out there!
So Spain’s time zone was moved to a back burner.
In the meantime, the Great Recession had ended, at least in theory.
So increasing efficiency in order to keep up with the rest of Europe didn’t seem as urgent as it once had. See my recent article about the idea that Spain has the world’s best economy for more about that.
Just when I started to think the whole “time zone change” was a lost cause, I got a shred of hope…
I saw an article today, oh boy.
Apparently, some of the “legacy” media outlets are now saying that the Boletín Oficial del Estado (AKA the official state gazette) has published a date for the final time change. According to ABC and others, 25 October 2026 is the end of daylight saving, and we’ll afterwards be staying on the winter schedule. Forever.
Usually, when things make it into the BOE, I start believing them.
But with this particular issue, I don’t really know anymore.
Still, I hope it’s true.
Daylight Saving Time is dumb
The usual arguments against “daylight saving” time zone changes are that:
- Nobody has really proven, despite decades of trying, that it works to save energy.
- The loss of an hour of sleep in spring can cause health problems – including heart attacks – in places where Daylight Saving is practiced.
- Basically, it’s annoying and stupid.
The heart attack claim has been reported everywhere at this point, but also, the Mayo Clinic has released a study saying that while there is a slight uptick in the rate of heart attacks after DST comes into effect every year, it isn’t “clinically significant”.
Keep in mind that some studies suggest that there’s more crime on days with a full moon, for example, and that the “correlation versus causation” thing is complicated.
So I don’t know. Personally, I hate changing the clocks twice a year.
I hate the moment when suddenly it starts getting dark at 5PM in winter. And I’d rather not practice daylight saving. Getting sunlight in the morning and evening is what keeps our circadian rhythms on the right schedule, and that’s important for everyone’s health – just ask Andrew Huberman.
But as usual, I’m just a guy with a blog and a podcast – not a doctor or a Member of Parliament.
Later to bed and later to rise…
When people from the US or elsewhere move to Spain, one of the biggest culture shocks is dinner at 9:30 PM.
I still remember my first flatmate Javi coming home at 6 PM one day, back in 2004, and finding me in the kitchen eating a plate of spaghetti. “What are you doing, Dani?” he exclaimed. “Is this lunch, or is it dinner?”
In the Spanish mind, 6 PM is no time for spaghetti. And that’s fine. (These days, Morena and I usually have dinner at 8 or 8:30, but that can sometimes be later if we have social plans, or if it takes a long time to cook.)
One of the main issues with the Spanish timetable is that it affects every other aspect of life.
People start work at 9AM (or later) and take long lunches around 2 PM, which means they don’t finish work until late in the evening.
That’s why dinner is at 9 or 10 – people just work late.
The time zone and the TV schedule
Also, supposedly important late-night TV shows only start when people can be home to watch them. And they – the TV shows – don’t finish until eleven or so.
I haven’t lived in a house with a television set in more than 10 years, and I figured everyone just streamed TV shows on Netflix by now. But apparently, some people are still watching broadcast TV.
In my research today I learned that there’s a fierce competition between Pablo Motos and David Broncano for Spanish late-night TV viewership, with some controversy surrounding Broncano’s 14-million-euro-a-year salary.
It’s like Jay Leno vs David Letterman back in the 90s, but because Broncano’s show is on Televisión Española, the public broadcaster, his salary is paid for by taxpayers like you and me.
As a result of all this hilarious late-night TV, Spanish people go through life in a sleep-deprived haze, snatching siestas under olive trees if they can.
But let’s be honest: in a big city like Barcelona, olive trees are pretty rare.
Time: just another social construct
These days, Scientific American suggests that Newton was wrong, and time may not exist at all.
Personally, I wouldn’t go that far. But the concept of “clock time” is something that exists mostly in our heads.
Just watch mothers trying to go somewhere with small kids.
“Hurry up… We’re late!” says mom. But the kid doesn’t know what that means at all.
Mom may try to make the arrive kid “on time”, and the school system will probably make further attempts later on. But still: some people never learn.
What is being on time, really?
“Punctuality is an anglo-saxon social construct. But the 30 minutes I’m going to spend blow-drying my hair are demanded by science. So lighten up!”
That’s a lesson I learned repeatedly back when I was dating Spanish girls. (In fact, trying to do things with wet hair is one of the leading causes of death among Spanish women. Ask anyone.)
Seen in that light, what does it matter whether the sun goes down at five or at ten? It’s all just an illusion anyway.
So, shall we blame Hitler or Franco for Spain’s time zone woes?
Maybe. Or maybe we should just (as the saying goes) lighten up.
Which, incidentally, is what the sun is doing outside my balcony window, right now.
Happy spring, everyone. I’m going outside.
Yours,
Daniel AKA Mr Chorizo.
P.S. A couple of popular articles in recent days are the one on Social Class in Spain. That talks more about the King and such. There’s also one about some sex scandals that you might enjoy. Have fun!
P.P.S. Blaming everything on the legacy of fascism is something that the British press likes to do with articles about Spain. So my headline up there is something of a joke. “Spain in the aftermath of Franco’s dictatorship” is like saying “the US in the wake of Nixon’s resignation” – probably relevant decades ago, but not so much now. What do you think? Let me know, right here in the comments…
Loved this ramble, thank you.
I also like the idea of not changing clocks, and I would happily have summer time or winter time and not switch.
Anyway, clock hands are very much made up things.
It is only convention that says we go to work at 0900 one day, and then we change the clocks and now we go to work at 0900 but and hour earlier or later Earth Time. We could ignore the clock and just start each day at the same Earth Time.
OK, the boss would be pissed and the businesses would all fail ^^. or more likely I would be out of job *sighs*.
Nice thought, just do our own Human thing and ignore the nasty pointy clock hands.
Who's fault is it? well we appear to be a democracy, (comments on a post card please) so I guess it is ours !
So, again, a light and fun message from the happy Mr Chorizo; which I am sure could stir up much passion; thank you.
Hey Peter, yeah, I think it’s fine if businesses or schools want to start earlier in summer. It makes sense. Forcing everyone in the country to change their clocks twice a year just seems ridiculous to me. (I get up around sunrise all year long anyway.) Thanks for reading!
The German parliament promised the same a few years back. Like Spain, they did nothing. I'm finally growing to understand that that is what politicians do best. On the other hand, I read something recently about Spain moving to the Iberian time zone with Portugal with the rest of us staying on CET. I doubt that that will happen but if it truly comes to pass in October 2026 that Spain no longer has "summer time" perhaps it will. Pigs will fly, too, if given enough thrust. Just do not stand under their trajectory or in the landing zone.
The endless Nazi comparison has grown old. While the current U.S. administration might be fascist not all fascists are Nazis. Know your fascists, people!