The Spanish lifestyle is uniquely theirs: they party late and still get up at a reasonable hour to do a day’s work. They eat big lunches that last for hours and then sleep in the afternoon before finishing the workday. Travelers can be confused or disappointed with the results of this lifestyle if they don’t know what to expect. There are a few simple rules to remember: eat late, go out late, and try nothing in the middle of the afternoon. The unusual moment of the Spanish day is part of the experience of getting to know the country.
Live in Spanish time
Below are two scenarios that are typical of tourists in Spain; the former has not done enough research and hopes that everything will be like home, but the latter has read about life in Spain and has made plans based on that knowledge.
5 pm
- Wrong: Arrive in town, check in at your hotel, and go out for dinner.
- Right: Arrive in town, check in at your hotel, and leisurely walk around town to get your bearings or eat something like tortilla de patatas (tortilla) or churros (donut strips) with chocolate for merienda (snack).
7 pm
- Wrong: Find an empty restaurant that is opening, eat in silence, and leave just as other customers start to enter.
- Right: Continue walking through the city and perhaps visit an art gallery or museum. Things are still open, and you have all the time in the world before the restaurants start jumping.
9 pm
- Wrong: Return to your hotel, shower and get ready to see the nightlife. Ask where the best nightlife is, but hit the bars and find them empty.
- Right: Go out to dinner. Around 9pm is the perfect time to find a restaurant that is starting to fill up. This is when the Spanish dine, and it allows you to fit in perfectly with the Spanish way of life.
11 pm
- Wrong: After exhausting all the bars in the city center and finding them empty, you eventually find a bar with some people. You have a couple of drinks and are back at the hotel before midnight.
- Right: Ask where to find the best nightlife and leave at approximately 11.30pm. That’s when the Spanish bar and club scene begins. You will find all the bars full of people. Move from bar to bar and enjoy the scene.
1 am
- Wrong: you go to the hotel bar and pay too much to drink a bad brand of whiskey that no Scotch has probably ever heard of. Eventually you go to bed.
- Right: Are you still going strong? Well. There will be bars open while you can stay awake. Different regions have different laws on drinking hours, but most bars will be open until 3 a.m., especially on weekends.
3 am
- Incorrect: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
- Right: This is when the bars close. Congratulations on making it so far. If your batteries still have some power, go to a nightclub, which will be open until 6 or 7 am. But don’t forget to sleep sometime.
9 am
- Wrong: sleeping and waking up lamenting those Scots in the hotel bar. Get up and spend an hour looking for a hearty breakfast like when you come home.
- Right: Get up, even if you got up late the night before (you will have a chance to sleep later). Get something light for breakfast like coffee and some churros which is a typical Spanish breakfast. You ate late the night before, so you shouldn’t be very hungry. Then go out to see the sights.
11 am
- Wrong: You can’t find a hearty breakfast like the one you come home to. You settle for something you really didn’t want and finally get to see the sights.
- Right: You should be enjoying the views by now.
1 to 2:30 pm
- Wrong: After you’ve spent the last hours in a large museum, such as the Prada in Madrid or the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, go out for lunch at around 2:30 p.m. M. You will see that everything is closed for nap. Stores like pharmacies are also closed.
- Right: Eat a big lunch, Spanish style, at 1 pm Take your time as this is when the Spanish have their main meal of the day.
3 pm
- Wrong: You can’t find a nice place to have lunch and you end up at McDonald’s, since it’s the only thing open. You decide to go to an art gallery, but guess what? Is closed.
- Right: Go back to the hotel for a while and take a nap, which you’ll really need since you got up late and didn’t sleep late in the morning. It’s nap time so everything is closed and the heat will be unbearable anyway if it’s summer. But don’t sleep for long. Spanish scientists say that 30 minutes is ideal for a nap; more and you’ll wake up feeling worse.
