The siesta is one of the most remarkable aspects of Spanish life: that dead period at the end of the afternoon when everything shuts down in Spain, in theory, so that people can rest and take a nap.
The Spanish have taken the siesta very seriously, even going so far as to have a sleeping competition in his honor. Throughout history, there have been many good reasons to take a nap. But, on a normal day, in most cities, do Spaniards really fall asleep at this time? And are the reasons the nap is fading away?
Traditional siesta times
Over the years, there have been two nap periods in Spain: nap for shops and businesses, when many people go to a bar or restaurant, and then nap for restaurants, which obviously cannot rest when everyone wants to come eat. . . The siesta for shops and businesses is from approximately 2 pm to 5 pm, while bars and restaurants close from 4 pm to 8 or 9 pm
Naps to avoid the midday heat
Spain is a hot country, especially in the mid-afternoon, and the traditional reason for siesta is for workers in the fields to take refuge from the heat. Then they would feel refreshed after sleeping and would work until quite late at night, longer than they would have been able to without a nap.
Although people still work outside of Spain, this reason does not explain why shops and businesses in big cities should close today. In fact, offices can get hot too, but the invention of air conditioning has helped in this department. So why do they keep doing it?
Limit working hours
Another reason for the siesta was that there was a law that limited business hours to 72 hours a week and eight Sundays a year. With these limits, it made sense for businesses to close when many people were hiding from the heat and stay open later. This, in turn, would be reinforced as people would stay off the streets as all the shops were closed anyway.
Several years ago, the law on Spanish business hours was relaxed, allowing stores to remain open for 90 hours a week and 10 Sundays a year. Then, in 2016, the Prime Minister announced that official working hours would end at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m., which means the end of the two-hour lunch break and shortens the working day. And, as more and more people work in offices, most of which now have air conditioning, the temperature reason for naps doesn’t carry as much weight.
Lunch of cultural importance
A big reason for the traditional siesta is that the Spanish have always liked having a long lunch. At home, a mother will cook a great meal for the whole family (and yes, that does not include her oldest child, it is still customary to enjoy a homemade meal as an adult outside the nest). This meal can last up to two hours (longer if time permits), and alcohol was often included. Rest before going back to work was essential after that.
However, now, people don’t always work close to home, so they don’t head home for that long family lunch. They prefer to work shorter hours and get home earlier in the evening.
Spaniards still don’t get enough sleep
According to an article in the Washington Post, Spaniards sleep one hour less per night than the World Health Organization recommends, while another source states that Spaniards sleep later than any country in the world, after Japan.
One reason is that Spain is in the wrong time zone. Spain shares the Iberian peninsula with Portugal and, geographically speaking, is almost perfectly aligned with Great Britain, both operate in GMT, while Spain is on Central European time, which extends east to the Polish border with Belarus and Ukraine.
The explanation is allegedly due to claims that Spain changed its time zone in WWII to follow Nazi Germany, but this is not strictly true. In fact, most of Europe went to Central European time during WWII, to avoid confusion about when exactly the attacks would take place. After the war, most countries returned to their old time zone, but Spain did not. No one knows why, but it was not to align with Nazi Germany, as the Germans had been defeated. In fact, Spain allied with the United Kingdom and the United States in the postwar years when the West tried to prevent Spain from falling into the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union.
An afternoon nap is good for you if you don’t get enough sleep at night. The Spanish Society of Primary Care Physicians says that a nap reduces stress and improves memory, alertness and cardiovascular performance. Naps are said to last around 25 minutes to have the optimal benefit. However, Spain is moving towards working fewer hours and eliminating nap time, so there are concerns that Spaniards will not give up their nighttime lifestyle.
Sleeping to stay awake later
Another reason why Spaniards have traditionally stopped for siesta is not so much out of necessity but out of lack of desire. One reason the Spanish continue to want the traditional lunchtime break is that it allows them to stay up later at night without fading. Spain’s nightlife may have caused (or maintained) the country’s siesta culture, but it is the siesta that allows the nightly partying lifestyle to continue, and many Spaniards don’t want that to change.
The sun sets much later in Spain than in most other European countries, which encourages eating and having fun later. Spanish nightlife is an all-night affair. The streets start to fill up at midnight and the Spaniards stay out past 3 in the morning, which would be difficult without a nap.
The gradual end of the siesta
The traditional nap has been dying for a while now. A higher pressure modern job market means that many people are unwilling or unable to take long breaks, and air conditioning has helped them work during the hottest part of the day.
The gradual disappearance of the siesta has not changed the night life style, which means that Spaniards sleep an average of one hour less per day than other European countries.
Even before the law changed and the economic pressures changed, siesta would be observed in Madrid and Barcelona much less than in Granada or Salamanca. Large supermarkets and department stores in much of the country remain open during siesta. In winter, when the heat is not suffocating, this may be a good time to go shopping as some Spaniards will still stay away.
