Most Spaniards happy to adopt European-style working hours, poll finds

Will Spain ever ditch the siesta?

A new poll carried out by Spanish daily newspaper 20 Minutos has found that around eight out of ten Spaniards would like to take shorter lunch breaks and finish work earlier, bringing the country in line with much of the rest of Europe…

Spain’s Mediterranean working culture has long been unique in Europe, with later starts, longer lunches and later finishes defining a typical working day. But a growing number of Spaniards are keen to alter the reality.

To do that, the government has already stated on numerous occasions that it would like to move Spain back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) to bring the nation more in line with the rest of the continent.

However, changing the actual working culture will take much longer. The good news for many Spaniards, however, is that there appears to be majority acceptance that a more efficient working day – the more typical 9-5, if you will – is what is needed.

The poll found that 67.5% of those surveyed would like a shorter lunch break. For many Spanish workers – particularly those in the retail sector – the break in the middle of the day can sometimes be as much as three hours.

The lesser-known ‘breakfast break’, which is a 30-minute break between 11.00 – 11.30am, is also increasingly unpopular, with 64.5% of Spaniards willing to lose it, while more than 82% of those polled would like their overall working day to be more condensed, the survey showed.

Spain’s employment minister Fátima Báñez appears to agree with most Spaniards. She has campaigned to introduce a proposal to ensure the typical working day for people in Spain finishes at 18.00. But how feasible this actually proves remains to be seen.