The answer: Saturday mornings. If you go to one of the bigger supermarkets in Madrid (Alcampo, Carrefour) on a Saturday morning you'll see that there are so many people that it's hard to even walk up and down the aisles! But seriously, it is a problem for people to find time to get things done.

I imagine many people would gladly give up the siesta lunch if it meant they could leave work at 5:00. There are some companies in Madrid that follow the "European" or "American" schedule of 9-5 with 30 minutes for lunch. The problem is that even in these companies many people still end up working until 7 or 8, so if they're still working late I guess it's better to have the long break at lunch. In one of the companies where I teach their work schedule is 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. so they should have the afternoons free to do what they want (except for Thursdays when they do have to work from 5-8 also). But, my students have told me that the majority of the people that they work with are in the office every afternoon even though they shouldn't have to work then. One student even told me that recently he had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon, and he actually had to ask his boss for permission to miss work that afternoon even though he really wasn't missing work since the appointment was after 3!

The long working hours are also a problem for spending time with your family. Young children may already be in bed (or getting ready for bed) by the time their parents get home from work. Many people say how family-oriented Spain is and how it's a great place to raise children, but I'm not so sure. Of course in some ways it is family-oriented, but in most cases the working hours definitely aren't compatible with family life. This may be one reason why Spaniards are having fewer children.