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.

Wait, wasn't it you who complained here on the message board as to why no one commented on the blog itself?

I really wish you'd log in to the Madrid Blog and post your comment there - since you took the trouble to read it there. That way, you'd have the blog entry WITH the comment - and not in two different places on the internet.

Thanks! Saludos, MadridMan

can do, put it here becuase for some reason I couldn't log in anymore with wordpress. Personally what makes a blog interesting is the comments and I figured (although that is more your decison) that easier to comment where you are already login to. Speaking of such can you tie the two togehter, that is if your logged in to madridman?

I wish! The message board uses "UBB.threads" software and the blog uses "Movable Type" software and they don't talk together - as is often the case.

As I stated earlier, I think you should now be able to log into the the MadridMan blog using your Wordpress account. I remember seeing your login information recently.

Saludos, MadridMan

I have to say I'm a little sad to see the siesta time/long lunch break tradition dying. I think it is nice that people get a long break, and it is sooo nice to be able to take a nap But I also have to say, that it is a little inconvenient if you have things to get done- for example, if you work until late, your long lunch break might be the only time you have to get some errands done, but then everything is closed! And I don't have kids of my own, but I imagine that it is nice for parents to end their day earlier and get home sooner to spend more time with their kids.

Few office workers (if any) get to actually take a nap during their lunch breaks of 1, 2, or 3 hours but at least they can disconnect and (hopefully) be more productive during the second half of their workdays. I'd imagine those taking only 30-minutes for lunch are nearly useless during the 7th, 8th, and maybe even the 6th hour of their day without a lot of coffee.

That said, spending more time with the family is very valuable considering how early kids get out of school and how late parents come home. But if society attempts to coincide school and work-ending hours then all those lovely grandparents wouldn't get to spend so much of their retirement with their grandkids - whom many times take care of the grandkids after school.

But you have a point. It's tough running errands during your lunch break or after work if everything's closed. But if they change things to "Open at 8am and Close at 10pm - and not closing for lunch" then you'd be able to run those errands - but the workers in those stores would have less time with their families too.

I vote they keep the siesta hour to FORCE people to slow down and relax, take a break and disconnect. It should improve productivity and lessen stress.

Saludos, MadridMan