Time in Spain
Spainhas two time zones. Spain mainly usesCET(UTC+01:00) inPeninsular Spain,Ceuta,Melillaand theplazas de soberanía.In theCanary Islands,the time zone isWET(UTC±00:00).
Spain usedGMT(UTC±00:00) before theSecond World War(except for the Canary Islands which used UTC−01:00 before this date). However, the time zone was changed to Central European Time in 1940 and has remained so since then, meaning that Spain does not use its "natural" time zone under the coordinated time zone system. Some observers believe that this time zone shift plays a role in the country's relatively unusual daily schedule (late meals and sleep times).[1]
History
[edit]Standard time adoption
[edit]Spain,like other parts of the world,usedlocal mean timeuntil 31 December 1900.[2]InSan Sebastiánon 22 July 1900, thepresidentof theConsejo de Ministros,Francisco Silvela,proposed to the regent of Spain,María Cristina,aroyal decreeto standardise the time in Spain; thus setting Greenwich Mean Time (UTC±00:00) as the standard time inpeninsular Spain,theBalearic IslandsandCeutaandMelillafrom 1 January 1901 onwards. The royal decree was sanctioned byMaría Cristinaon 26 July 1900 inSan Sebastián,the place where she resided duringsummer.
The Canary Islands exception
[edit]Before 1 March 1922, theCanary Islandsstill used mean solar time until it was discovered that the royal decree of 1900 applied only to thePeninsulaand Balearic Islands.[2]The Canary Islands then used a time 1 hour behind the rest of Spain; UTC−01:00, until 16 March 1940, and since then, they have used Western European Time (UTC±00:00).
It is very popular in Spanish national media, mainly on theradioandtelevision,to mention the phrase "una hora menos en Canarias"(English:" one hour less in the Canary Islands ") when the local time is mentioned. Usage of the phrase dates back to 1969 with the radio programProtagonistas,airing onRadio Nacional de España.[3]
The natural time zone for theCanary Islandsis UTC−01:00.
Central European Time
[edit]In 1940,Francisco Francochanged the time zone[4]by changing 16 March 1940 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time to 17 March 1940 00:00 Central European Time during World War II. This was made permanent in 1942 in order to be in line with German-occupied Europe.[5]Several western European countries, including France, Belgium, and the Netherlands stayed on German time after the war in addition to Spain.[6]
Criticism of the use of Central European Time
[edit]
According to theoriginal 24-hour division of the world,the nearestmean solar timezone is Greenwich Mean Time for all of mainlandSpain– except the westernmost parts of the autonomous communities ofGalicia(about three-quarters of the community),ExtremaduraandAndalusia– which corresponds with the UTC time zone. However, all of mainland Spain has used Central European Time (UTC+01:00) since 1940. At the time it was considered a temporary wartime decision that would be revoked a few years later, but the revocation never happened.[7]
Some activists believe that the mismatch between Spain's clock time and solar time contributes to the country's unusual daily schedule.[8]They believe that the relatively late sunrises and sunsets shift the average Spaniard's day later than it otherwise would be, and that a return to its original time zone would help boost productivity and bring family and work rhythms into better balance.[9]
Some scientists, such as Jorge Mira of theUniversity of Santiago de Compostela,argue against changing the time zone because it is likely that work schedules will also be regressed by one hour to align withsolar time,resulting in no net effect in the long term; they fear disruption in the short term as Spaniards acclimatize to Greenwich time. Other countries at the same latitude as Spain, such asJapan,have similar time uses despite being closer to solar time; while countries in Northern Europe experience fewer hours of daylight and have shorter workdays.[10]
In September 2013, the "Subcommittee to Study the Rationalisation of Hours, the Reconciliation of Personal, Family Life and Professional Life and Responsibility" (subcomisión para el estudio de la Racionalización de Horarios, la Conciliación de la Vida Personal, Familiar y Laboral y la Corresponsabilidad) of theCongress of Deputiesmade a report to thegovernment of Spainproposing, among other things, a return to Greenwich Mean Time.[11][12]The subcommittee considered that this time zone change would have a favourable effect, allowing more time for family, training, personal life, leisure, and avoiding downtime during the workday. The proposals are aimed at improving Spanish labour productivity as well as better adjusting schedules to family and work life.[9][13]
The Galicia problem
[edit]InGalicia,the westernmost region of mainland Spain, the difference between the official local time and the mean solar time is about two and a half hours duringsummer time.[14]There have been political pushes to change the official time so that, as in Portugal, it is one hour in advance of the zone standard time. This would involve switching to GMT and making the time similar to that in Portugal, with which it shares the samelongitude.[15]For example, inVigo(located 35 time minutes west of Greenwich) it is noon at around 13:40 andsunsetis around 21:15 local time,[14]while inMenorcasunset is around 20:20.[16]
IANA time zone database
[edit]TheIANA time zone databasecontains 3 zones for Spain. Columns marked with * are from the filezone.tabfrom the database.
| c.c.* | coordinates* | TZ* | comments* | UTC offset | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES | +4024−00341 | Europe/Madrid | Spain (mainland) and Balearic Islands | +01:00 | |
| ES | +3553−00519 | Africa/Ceuta | Ceuta, Melilla, plazas de soberanía | +01:00 | |
| ES | +2806−01524 | Atlantic/Canary | Canary Islands | +00:00 |
Notation
[edit]Differences with neighbouring countries
[edit]Spain has borders with four countries:Portugal,France,Andorra,andMorocco;as well as with theBritish Overseas TerritoryofGibraltar.Clocks must normally be set one hour earlier than in Spain after crossing the borders with Portugal.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Jones, Jessica (May 8, 2017)."The real reason why Spaniards eat late".BBCTravel.RetrievedMay 20,2021.
- ^ab"Una hora menos en Canarias: apunte histórico-jurídico"[One hour less in the Canaries: historical and legal note] (in Spanish).University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.Retrieved1 January2013.
- ^Herrera, Ricardo (28 April 2024)."El verdadero origen de la expresión" Una hora menos en Canarias "en televisión"[The true origin of the expression "Una hora menos en Canarias" on television].Diario de Avisos(in Spanish).Retrieved29 October2024.
- ^"Orden del 7 de Marzo de 1940 sobre adelanto de la hora legal en 60 minutos a partir del 16 de los corrientes"[Decree of 7 March 1940 about the advancement of legal time by 60 minutes from the 16th of the current month.](PDF)(in Spanish).Boletín Oficial del Estado.Retrieved26 April2017.
- ^"Franco desfasó el horario español para sintonizar con los nazis".Publico(in Spanish). 2 April 2013.Retrieved20 February2014.
- ^Poulle, Yvonne (1999)."La France à l'heure allemande"(PDF).Bibliothèque de l'école des chartes.157(2): 493–502.doi:10.3406/bec.1999.450989.Retrieved11 January2012.
- ^"Se cumplen 70 años de un cambio de horario que no nos corresponde"[Is the 70th anniversary of a schedule change don't corresponded] (in Spanish). baquia.com. 15 March 2010.Retrieved7 January2013.
- ^Yardley, Jim (17 February 2014)."Spain, Land of 10 P.M. Dinners, Asks if It's Time to Reset Clock".The New York Times.Retrieved20 February2014.
- ^abDaniele, Laura (19 September 2013)."España quiere poner en hora su reloj"[Spain wants to put in time its watch] (in Spanish).ABC.Retrieved25 September2013.
- ^"Time-zone change in Spain would be madness, say experts".EL PAÍS English.12 January 2017.Retrieved23 June2024.
- ^Giles, Ciaran (26 September 2013)."Spain Time Zone Change Debated By Spanish Lawmakers".Associated Press.Archived fromthe originalon 8 March 2016.Retrieved19 February2014.
- ^"El Congreso baraja cambiar nuestro horario al británico para conciliar vida laboral y familiar"[Congreso considers changing our schedule to the British to reconcile work and family life] (in Spanish).Público.19 September 2013.Retrieved25 September2013.
- ^"Time's up for siestas, delayed meetings and late nights, Spaniards told in effort to make them work better".The Daily Telegraph.23 September 2013.Retrieved25 September2013.
- ^ab"Amanece muy pronto por aquí: mapa de la desviación entre la hora solar y la oficial"[Soon dawns here: map of the deviation between solar time and official] (in Spanish).Wordpress – Fronteras.10 August 2012.Retrieved7 January2013.
- ^"El BNG vuelve a pedir en el Senado un huso horario gallego"[The BNG turns to request in the Senate a Galician time zone] (in Spanish).La Voz de Galicia.29 October 2007.Retrieved7 January2013.
- ^Director, Cartas al (28 March 2007)."El cambio horario"[The time change].El País(in Spanish).Retrieved7 January2013.