Spain is looking to amend their time zone and working hours in order to increase the productivity of their working day. To those living outside Spain their multiple coffee breaks and midday naps or siestas seems like an ideal way to spend the working day. In truth many Spaniards feel the schedule is daunting and the day is just too long. The Guardian spoke to a working Spaniard named Fernando who said that his work day is long and he usually does not take the required breaks.
"I'm normally in the office until about 8pm. I could take two hours for lunch but mostly I just have an hour, and often I eat at my desk. I certainly don't take a siesta," Fernando said to The Guardian. On Thursday September 26 a commission by parliament recommended that a vote changing the Spanish work day to a steady 9 to 5 be considered. Spain's current time zone is one hour a head of the Greenwich Mean Time for the winter months and two hours ahead in the summer months.
It has been recommended that Spain adjust its time zone one hour earlier so that it will match up with Portugal and the United Kingdom. Spain has been on its current time zone since 1942 when the country's dictator Francisco Franco changed the time zone in order to follow Nazi Germany. According to various reports the Nazi time change has had negative effects on Spain ever since it was first established. The time zone change effects worker productivity, their ability to show up for work and their stress levels.
If parliament votes to change the time zone it would be a big adjustment for the Spanish people. The entire cultural schedule would have to be rearranged. According to the Washington Post everything from the school day, to the work day to the schedule of prime time TV would need to change. "Our time table is determined more by the sun than by the clock. We eat at one o'clock in the afternoon and dine at eight, according to the sun, but the clock says it is three o'clock and 10 o'clock," said a report by Spanish MP's on the time zone change.
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