Spain in the European context.

We are not in the time zone that corresponds to us both geographically and in our daily activity took two hours late compared to other European countries


While in Spain we see the Ministry of Time or the leader program audience of the season in Germany are already resting in bed. In Italy, where they dined at 19.30- 20.00, they are also in it. What a priori may seem an anecdote is, in practice, an average delay of two hours daily organization affects all areas of our lives: work, family and leisure.


Now playing again adjust to daylight savings time and are increasingly those who ask for delay forever the clock one hour - as determined Greenwich - we want to analyze why our country is an exception in the European environment. if we can also do something to change and improve our quality of life. Spain vs. Europe (including Mediterranean countries) "When you go to live outside or have contact with Spaniards who move abroad you realize that we are the ugly duckling of our environment," said José María Fernández-Crehuet, "Spain is a country very peculiar to their schedules. " Doctor and Professor of Economics and Business Administration at the Open University of Madrid, has addressed this issue in his doctoral thesis and has collected his research in the book Reconciling professional, family and personal life.


Spain in the European context.


Among the conclusions drawn are some devastating: we work more hours than the rest with worse outcomes (productivity is low) and our schedules are a drag on the long-awaited reconciliation of work and personal life.Fernandez-Crehuet analyzed 27 indicators that represent the major areas that influence the conciliation (time, family, health, labor and social policies) and compared with the data provided by Eurostat (the Statistical Office of the European Union) from other countries of our environment. That was plotting what would be our daily itinerary and saw "the Spaniards started very bad day. We do tired and cranky because we went to bed very late. Also, do not eat breakfast at home or do fast and wrong." And from there everything gets worse because then "we need to stop to eat something and this time we lose midmorning could win at the end of the day to go home earlier.


Just as that instead of eating late, we could do it perfectly to 13.00. "If we add that Spain is a place where the working day is mostly broken and split in half" the number of hours of presence lengthens work "and everything is delayed: from leisure time to prime time television.


"You have to change habits, starting with breakfast" Getty Images / Kathrin Ziegler The origin of the Spanish peculiarity "We not always had these times," explains PhD in Social Psychology Sara Berbel, "references collected, for example, in the Pardo Bazán novels show that once in Spain - especially in the countryside where industrialization had not come - he ate at 12.30 or 13.00. " Nor is it a question of climate, as countries such as Greece, Italy or Portugal do not have this distribution. To understand the reasons have to go back at the end of World War II and the specific historical situation of Spain: Franco's dictatorship.


"During the era of industrialization European countries had adopted very long and very rigid working hours, but after the war everyone saw that this was not feasible and should change," said Berbel, "our country then entered into a dictatorship and all that modernization process stalled. it is for this reason that we still have less flexible working hours in Europe. "


Berbel also recalls that the departure day, one of the hallmarks of the Spanish labor system, also has its origin in that period: "The men - who were then who mostly worked - were forced, by economic scarcity, the moonlighting. Thus a worker bench went from 9.00 to 15.00 to the branch and in the afternoon, from 16.00 to 20.00, worked at an agency. " A pattern that delayed the timing of meals - "the family did not dine until he came home" - and that has been perpetuated until our days. A time zone that is not for us.


"The peninsular Spain currently has an official time (GMT + 1), 1 hour above that actually correspond to its geographical position (GMT + 0)", explains Fernández-Crehuet, and "to not match the official time with solar, in most of Spain sunrise and sunset later than in the countries of our European environment. " Before it was not because it is a temporary measure taken by Franco in 1940 - to match to Germany - that have not rectified subsequently makes us be in a time zone decompensated. As Fernández-Crehuet "states in Spain, the sun usually shines about nine hours in winter and sixteen in the summer. If we advance the clock we find in most of the peninsula with two hours in Galicia three hours difference with respect our solar time. " It would be normal that our clocks were synchronized with those of Portugal, England or the Canary Islands. "If we would make the change summer, would approach our official time to solar and that facilitate change some habits to improve our quality of life , " says The teacher.
In the same vein pronounced Sara Berbel who believes that this decision would be positive and healthy for our biorhythms "would save time and would be allied with the meridian that belongs to us," he says, "but not enough. It would have to supplement it with other actions". The primary, the launch of a major global pact, signed by all the social sectors, which concretize later in a regulatory framework. "It is to expand the freedom of individuals, not to restrict it, so a previous consensus is essential. But the reality is that regulatory frameworks, laws are those that manage to regulate and encourage a change of habits." Fernandez-Crehuet explains that the process could be gradual and that a first exercise would equate to times for Italy or France. Overcome this phase would be the example to follow UK or Germany and "one last approach, perhaps too far in our today for our customs view, it would schedule the Nordic countries." The amendments would also have to take into account the needs of each sector and global society: "We would face what economists call the Game Theory. If I'm the only change a schedule, go losing But if we change all at the same time, we all win. "


Daylight hours do not enjoy because we are in the most appreciated summer office hours are usually those extra hours of light at the end of the day, but, according to data from experts, there would not obtaining the expected return. "We love to enjoy , " said Berbel, "but the reality is that we could enjoy more." Basically because when weshould be taking advantage of that time outdoors, we are still busy. "To the detractors of this time change , " said Berbel, "would have to explain that 46% of Spaniards to six p.m. is still in his job and that 10% continues to do so at nine p.m. . So they're not enjoying it , are working. " Fernández-Crehuet recalls that energy performance is not as great as believed and that the benefits of daylight saving time are rather sociological:" two - thirds of respondents considered positive to have more hours light in the evenings for outdoor activities, but the new time does not automatically lead to a shorter working day ".


By adapting to our natural time zone not only we would gain in quality of life. Professor Fernández-Crehuet points to an improvement of Spanish exports "since the coordinate schedules of our working hours with the rest of Europe, improve our trade relations." And in his opinion, it would be useful also for the tourism sector, which accounts for 10.9% of our GDP. Why: because tourists would feel to reach Spain "less surprised by our messy lifestyle.