Time in Spain
Spain has two time zones and observes daylight saving time. Spain mainly uses CET (UTC+01:00) and CEST (UTC+02:00) in Peninsular Spain, Ceuta, Melilla and the plazas de soberanía. In the Canary Islands, the time zone is WET (UTC±00:00) and WEST (UTC+01:00). DST is observed from the last Sunday in March (01:00 WET) to the last Sunday in October (01:00 WET) throughout Spain.
| Light Blue | Western European Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC) |
| Blue | Western European Time / Greenwich Mean Time (UTC) |
| Western European Summer Time / British Summer Time / Irish Standard Time (UTC+1) | |
| Red | Central European Time (UTC+1) |
| Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) | |
| Yellow | Eastern European Time / Kaliningrad Time (UTC+2) |
| Ochre | Eastern European Time (UTC+2) |
| Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3) | |
| Green | Moscow Time / Turkey Time (UTC+3) |
| Turquoise | Armenia Time / Azerbaijan Time / Georgia Time / Samara Time (UTC+4) |
▉▉▉ Dark colours: Summer time observed
Spain used GMT (UTC±00:00) before the Second 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, used mean solar time until 31 December 1900.[2] In San Sebastián on 22 July 1900, the president of the Consejo de Ministros, Francisco Silvela, proposed to the regent of Spain, María Cristina, a royal decree to standardise the time in Spain; thus setting Greenwich Mean Time (UTC±00:00) as the standard time in peninsular Spain, the Balearic Islands and Ceuta and Melilla from 1 January 1901 onwards. The royal decree was sanctioned by María Cristina on 26 July 1900 in San Sebastián, the place where she resided during summer.
The Canary Islands exception edit
Before 1 March 1922, the Canary Islands still used mean solar time until it was discovered that the royal decree of 1900 applied only to the Peninsula and 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). Canary Islands observes daylight saving time at the same time (01:00 UTC) the rest of Spain does, that is, changing from 01:00 WET to 02:00 WEST on the last Sunday in March (while the rest of Spain changes from 02:00 CET to 03:00 CEST) and, when daylight saving time ends, changing from 02:00 WEST to 01:00 WET on the last Sunday in October (while the rest of Spain changes from 03:00 CEST to 02:00 CET).
It is very popular in Spanish national media, mainly on the radio, to list the notice "una hora menos en Canarias" (English: "one hour less in the Canary Islands")[3] when the local time is mentioned.
The natural time zone for the Canary Islands is UTC−01:00.
Daylight saving time edit
Daylight saving time (DST) was first introduced in 1918,[4] the year in which World War I ended. It was then introduced and abolished several times. It was not applied in 1920–1923, 1925, 1930 nor during the Second Spanish Republic period in 1931–1936. During the Spanish Civil War, DST was re-established, but there were different dates of application, depending on if the territory was under the control of the Republican faction or Nationalist faction. Curiously, the Republican faction made its first attempt to change from Greenwich Mean Time to Central European Time when time was advanced 1 hour on 2 April 1938 and advanced another hour on 30 April 1938, only adjusting back 1 hour on 2 October 1938. After the war ended on 1 April 1939, Greenwich Mean Time was re-established and on 15 April 1939 DST was also applied.
Since 1974, after the 1973 oil crisis, daylight saving time has been observed every year. In 1981 it was applied as a directive and is revised every 4 years, DST is observed from the last Sunday in March (01:00 UTC) to the last Sunday in September (01:00 UTC).[4] In 1996, daylight saving time was harmonised throughout the European Union by Directive 2000/84/EC, which moved the end of DST to the last Sunday in October.
Central European Time edit
| 0h ± 30m | |
| 1h ± 30m ahead | |
| 2h ± 30m ahead | |
| 3h ± 30m ahead |
In 1940, Francisco Franco changed the time zone[5] 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.[6] Several western European countries, including France, Belgium, and the Netherlands stayed on German time after the war in addition to Spain.[7]
Criticism of the use of Central European Time edit
According to the original 24-hour division of the world, the nearest mean solar time zone is Greenwich Mean Time for all of mainland Spain except the westernmost part (about three-quarters of Galicia) and the westernmost part of Extremadura and the westernmost part of Andalucía which corresponds with the UTC-01:00 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.[8]
Some activists believe that the mismatch between Spain's clock time and solar time contributes to the country's unusual daily schedule.[9] 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.[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 the Congress of Deputies made a report to the government of Spain proposing, 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.[10][13]
The Galicia problem edit
In Galicia, 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 during summer 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 same longitude.[15] For example, in Vigo (located 35 time minutes west of Greenwich) during summer, it is noon at around 14:40 and sunset is around 22:15 local time,[14] while in Menorca sunset is around 21:20.[16]
IANA time zone database edit
The IANA time zone database contains 3 zones for Spain. Columns marked with * are from the file zone.tab from the database.
| c.c.* | coordinates* | TZ* | comments* | UTC offset | DST | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES | +4024−00341 | Europe/Madrid | Spain (mainland) and Balearic Islands | +01:00 | +02:00 | |
| ES | +3553−00519 | Africa/Ceuta | Ceuta, Melilla, plazas de soberanía | +01:00 | +02:00 | |
| ES | +2806−01524 | Atlantic/Canary | Canary Islands | +00:00 | +01:00 |
Notation edit
Differences with neighbouring countries edit
Spain has borders with four countries: Portugal, France, Andorra, and Morocco; as well as with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Clocks must normally be set one hour earlier than in Spain after crossing the borders with Portugal.
Dates of Daylight Saving Time and other changes edit
This is the list of historical time changes in Spain, note that the time of change is in Greenwich Mean Time.
| Year | Date DST starts | Time zone change | Date DST ends | Time zone change | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | Monday, 15 April 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → GMT+01:00 | Sunday, 6 October 23:00 UTC | GMT+01:00 → GMT±00:00 | |
| 1919 | Sunday, 6 April 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → | Monday, 6 October 23:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT±00:00 | |
| 1924 | Wednesday, 16 April 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → GMT+01:00 | Saturday, 4 October 23:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT±00:00 | |
| 1926 | Saturday, 17 April 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → GMT+01:00 | Saturday, 2 October 23:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT±00:00 | |
| 1927 | Saturday, 9 April 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → GMT+01:00 | Saturday, 1 October 23:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT±00:00 | |
| 1928 | Saturday, 14 April 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → GMT+01:00 | Saturday, 6 October 23:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT±00:00 | |
| 1929 | Saturday, 20 April 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → GMT+01:00 | Sunday, 6 October 23:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT±00:00 | |
| 1937 | Saturday, 22 May 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → GMT+01:00 | Saturday, 2 October 23:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT±00:00 | In Nationalist zone |
| Wednesday, 16 June 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → GMT+01:00 | Wednesday, 6 October 23:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT±00:00 | In Republican zone | |
| 1938 | Saturday, 26 March 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → GMT+01:00 | Saturday, 1 October 23:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT±00:00 | In Nationalist zone |
| Saturday, 2 April 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → GMT+01:00 | In Republican zone. Change time zone from GMT to Central European Time. | |||
| Saturday, 30 April 22:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Sunday, 2 October 22:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | In Republican zone | |
| 1939 | Saturday, 1 April 22:30 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT±00:00 | In Republican zone. End of Spanish Civil War. Change time zone from Central European Time to GMT. | ||
| Saturday, 15 April 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → GMT+01:00 | Saturday, 7 October 23:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT±00:00 | ||
| 1940 | Saturday, 16 March 23:00 GMT | GMT±00:00 → GMT+01:00 | Change time zone from GMT to CET.[5] | ||
| 1942 | Saturday, 2 May 22:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Tuesday, 1 September 22:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1943 | Saturday, 17 April 22:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Sunday, 3 October 22:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1944 | Saturday, 15 April 22:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Saturday, 30 September 23:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1945 | Saturday, 14 April 22:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Saturday, 29 September 23:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1946 | Saturday, 13 April 22:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Saturday, 28 September 22:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1949 | Saturday, 30 April 22:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Saturday, 1 October 23:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1974 | Saturday, 13 April 22:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Saturday, 5 October 23:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1975 | Saturday, 12 April 22:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Saturday, 4 October 22:00 GMT | GMT02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1976 | Saturday, 27 March 22:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Saturday, 25 September 22:00 GMT | GMT → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1977 | Saturday, 2 April 22:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Saturday, 24 September 22:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1978 | Sunday, 2 April 22:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Sunday, 1 October 01:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1979 | Sunday, 1 April 01:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Sunday, 30 September 01:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1980 | Sunday, 6 April 01:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Sunday, 28 September 01:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1981–1995 | Last Sunday in March 1:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Last Sunday in September 1:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 → GMT+01:00 | |
| 1996– | Last Sunday in March 1:00 GMT | GMT+01:00 → GMT+02:00 | Last Sunday in October 1:00 GMT | GMT+02:00 →GMT+01:00 |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Jones, Jessica (May 8, 2017). "The real reason why Spaniards eat late". BBC Travel. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ a b "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. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- ^ "El origen del "una hora menos en Canarias"" [The origin of "una hora menos en Canarias"] (in Spanish). Blogspot – Curistoria. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ a b Afines (2017). "Cambio de horario verano 2017" (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 April 2017.
- ^ a b "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. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
- ^ "Franco desfasó el horario español para sintonizar con los nazis". Publico (in Spanish). 2 April 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
- ^ 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. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
- ^ "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. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ Yardley, Jim (17 February 2014). "Spain, Land of 10 P.M. Dinners, Asks if It's Time to Reset Clock". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
- ^ a b Daniele, Laura (19 September 2013). "España quiere poner en hora su reloj" [Spain wants to put in time its watch] (in Spanish). ABC. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ^ Giles, Ciaran (26 September 2013). . Associated Press. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "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. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ^ "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. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ^ a b "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. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ "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. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ Director, Cartas al (28 March 2007). "El cambio horario" [The time change]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 January 2013.
External links edit
- – ¿Qué hora es? Real Observatorio de la Armada (in Spanish)