The Spanish Siesta
The peculiarly Spanish tradition of the Siesta is known worldwide without having been adopted extensively elsewhere, apart from Spanish outposts.
In the latter part of the afternoon, many shops and businesses close between 2 and 5 p.m. Rather than going home to sleep, many choose to pass the time at a cafe, restaurant or bar. Therefore, these stay open during these hours and have a later siesta closing time, from 4 p.m. to 8/9 p.m. in the evening.
Traditionally the siesta allowed labourers in rural Spain the opportunity to have some respite from the heat. They would sleep for a few hours and return to their work rested and able to work on into the cooler evening.
It is no longer only farm labourers that subscribe to the tradition of the Siesta; office workers in air-conditioned city buildings also choose to do so. A reason for this is another great Spanish tradition: the long, filling lunch. Lunch in Spain is a family affair and may last for a couple of hours.
Heading back to work with a belly full of food and wine is a recipe for a drowsy unproductive afternoon at work. So instead the general populace partake of a snooze and return to work later.
The evenings continue much later in Spain, with people regularly heading out only at about midnight and socialising until the early hours of the morning. The siesta also helps people to catch up on their lost sleep from late nights.
Changing Times
Though many are still avid proponents of the Siesta, in some regions or employment it is not possible to maintain. Madrid and Barcelona are busy cities that tend to keep going throughout the day, and all over Spain, supermarkets and large stores keep their doors open all day and still have the later closing times of other businesses.
Workers still stay up until the early hours of the morning in accordance with the social norms. On an average, changing times mean that Spaniards sleep one hour less per day than Europeans elsewhere.
The Spanish may not actually sleep during the Siesta, and for some it is impossible, but for many, the siesta offers a welcome respite from the heat of the day and time to digest a healthy lunch in peace. As a tourist in Spain, you may adopt the local customs with ease and even relief, but should you choose to keep your own country’s body clock ticking, be aware that not everyone will be in step.
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