Spanish siestas on the way out? In Spain, some dream of trading siestas for 9 to 5
By Renwick McLean International Herald Tribune Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Many believe break drags out workday
MADRID In Spanish, time does not fly; it "runs." Watches don't run; they "walk." Morning lasts until 2 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. is still the afternoon.
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The way Spaniards talk about time reflects a society where things move at a different speed and where the days can seem interminably long to a foreigner.
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For much of Spain's recent history, the siesta made the long days bearable. A routine workday that begins at 9 a.m. and finishes at 8 p.m. can seem somewhat rational if it is broken up by a good nap in the afternoon.
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Today, long commutes make a trip home for a nap impractical, at least in the major cities. But if the siesta is becoming a thing of the past, it has left a legacy of idle afternoons that is still very much a part of Spanish life. In a way, the siesta has not so much disappeared as it has morphed into an epic lunch, often a two- or three-hour extravaganza that can last until 5 p.m.
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Some Spaniards, however, are beginning to ask if a divided workday, with morning and evening sessions straddling an afternoon of scarce productivity, is compatible with the modern world and Spain's growing integration into Europe.
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The Fundación Independiente, a research organization in Madrid, has begun a campaign to do away with the marathon lunches and to align the Spanish work schedule with the 9-to-5 routine common in the rest of the European Union.
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"In a globalized world, we have to have schedules that are more similar to those in the rest of the world so we can be better connected," said Ignacio Buqueras y Bach, the group's president.
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"These Spanish lunches of two to three hours are very pleasant, but they are not very productive."
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Change already appears to have taken root in some places. It is not hard to find convenience stores and shopping centers that stay open all day, a contrast from 10 to 12 years ago. Perhaps more telling, it is not unusual to see a boutique with a sign in the window saying, "We do not close at midday."
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But a long break in the afternoon is so ingrained in the Spanish psyche that many wonder if it is possible, or even preferable, to get rid of it.
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Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said he had his doubts. "That is very difficult to do in Spain," he said recently. "The work schedule is what distinguishes Spaniards, but it is also what defines us."
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Many of Zapatero's countrymen have shown little interest in changing their habits. Storefronts across Madrid still board up each afternoon for two or three hours. Calls to government offices after 2 p.m. are often greeted with a request to call back at 5 p.m. Even in the private sector, working hours tend to omit much of the afternoon.
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Because of the long break at midday, many evening activities are pushed deep into the evening. Dinner often starts at 10 p.m., as does prime-time television. Several hours later, streets are still alive and Spaniards are still busy. "Midnight is early," said María Jesús Franco, a 30-year-old architect, as she finished a multicourse lunch at 5:30 p.m. with some friends near Madrid. "Children are asleep by then, but that's about it."
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When the siesta was around to keep people going, the long days may have seemed sensible. But without it, Spain has become a nation of sleepy souls who wake early and go home late, but no longer stop to nap in between.
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On average, Spaniards sleep 40 fewer minutes a day than the typical European, according to Buqueras of the Fundación Independiente. The lack of sleep has serious health effects for Spanish society, he said, including a greater incidence of physical and mental illness and higher rates of traffic and workplace accidents.
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Some doctors are urging a return of the siesta, but Buqueras says the best solution is to shorten the workday so that people can get home earlier and get to bed sooner. A reduced workday would also give Spaniards more time for a host of other activities, Buqueras said. Perhaps most important, it would enable parents to spend more time with their children.
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"Kids come home from school and they are alone until 9 p.m. because parents are working," he said.
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Some of the staunchest supporters of his initiative are women's groups who say that the current schedule makes it difficult for working mothers to juggle job and family demands.
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Supporters say that shortening the workday would also give a boost to Spain's economy. Spaniards work more hours per week than the average European, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, but they accomplish less.
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"There is the law of diminishing returns," Buqueras said. "You can work well for the first three to four hours, then you slow down, and at the end of the day it's worse. The work schedule should be set with productivity in mind."
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Buqueras says many Spaniards mistakenly believe that a long break at midday has always been a part of the Spanish lifestyle.
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"As late as 1930, lunchtime was between 12 and 1, and dinnertime started at 7 or 8," he said. "If you look at the newspapers or novels from the beginning of the century, they all show it."
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What is unclear, he said, is why habits changed. Some historians point to the Spanish Civil War, which was fought from 1936 to 1939. It is possible, Buqueras said, that "the hunger that is always caused by wars forced people to work two jobs to survive," one in the morning and one at night. The midday break would have given them time to get from one job to the other. "But there are no definite causes," he said.
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The task of convincing Spaniards to go back to the prewar routine faces some formidable obstacles, Buqueras said, but not insurmountable ones.
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"Three years ago, there was general skepticism, even smiles, as if we were Quixote going after windmills," he said. "But we think people are starting to realize that we have a point."
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