Posted by: Rob in Madrid
Comment on Phone Calls During Siesta Time - 08/03/09 02:08 AM
This isn't thread but a comment on the blog (rather than logging in the blog I'm posting it here )
When I first showed up in Madrid and went out for a walk in the afternoon I got a huge shock, I thought the city was dead!!!! Nothing but 'boarded up' business, it was only latter that I learned that most small businesses shut down from 2-5.
Outside of small shops the Seista time is slowly dying out as more and more companies go to American hours (but an hour for lunch) and the main reason being working Moms. People would rather have a shorter lunch and get our earlier.
There are still a few companies around that do the traditional workday (9-2 and 4-7) but they are disappearing. Another very unique Spanish tradtion is the summer hours. Many companies allow employees to work an hour longer during the winter to
so that they can work shorter hours during the summer.
When I first showed up in Madrid and went out for a walk in the afternoon I got a huge shock, I thought the city was dead!!!! Nothing but 'boarded up' business, it was only latter that I learned that most small businesses shut down from 2-5.
Outside of small shops the Seista time is slowly dying out as more and more companies go to American hours (but an hour for lunch) and the main reason being working Moms. People would rather have a shorter lunch and get our earlier.
There are still a few companies around that do the traditional workday (9-2 and 4-7) but they are disappearing. Another very unique Spanish tradtion is the summer hours. Many companies allow employees to work an hour longer during the winter to
so that they can work shorter hours during the summer.