The Spanish day

Five times to eat

1. el desayuno Breakfast, 7–9 Small and quick, usually at home: a café con leche and a slice of toast, or a few biscuits.
2. la media mañana Mid-morning, about 11 Many workers go out to a bar for a coffee and something to eat. In many areas this second breakfast is called almuerzo.
3. la comida Lunch, 2–3.30 The main meal of the day. On working days many people take the menú del día in a bar or restaurant near the office.
4. la merienda Afternoon snack, 5–6 Children have it when they get back from school: a sandwich, fruit or a pastry. Before dinner, many adults have a drink and a tapa with friends.
5. la cena Dinner, 9–10.30 Light at home: an omelette, a salad, a little fish. Many restaurants do not open for dinner before half past eight or nine.

• In Spain people have lunch and dinner later than almost anywhere else in Europe.
• The word comida means both food in general and the midday meal: ¿Vienes a comer? usually means are you coming for lunch.
• Almuerzo is a slippery word: in much of Spain it is the mid-morning snack; in Andalusia, the Canaries and much of Latin America it means lunch.
• A menú del día is a first course, a main course, dessert or coffee, bread and a drink for one price. It began in 1964 as the compulsory menú turístico; it has long since stopped being compulsory.
• Between lunch and dinner many kitchens close for a few hours, so a restaurant may not serve a hot meal at six or seven. Bars will still give you a drink, a tapa or a sandwich.

El día tiene cinco momentos para comer: el desayuno, la media mañana, la comida, la merienda y la cena.

The day has five times to eat: breakfast, mid-morning, lunch, the afternoon snack and dinner.

La comida es entre las dos y las tres y media, más o menos.

Lunch is between two and half past three, more or less.

La cena es entre las nueve y las diez y media de la noche.

Dinner is between nine and half past ten at night.

¿A qué hora abre la cocina?

What time does the kitchen open?

The siesta, honestly

The siesta is one of the most famous clichés about Spain, and most Spaniards do not take one. Surveys put the daily nappers at about one in six, and more than half say they never nap. The siesta exists above all at weekends, on holiday and in summer, and on the sofa of many grandparents, with the television on.

What visitors actually meet is the split working day, the horario partido. Many small shops open from ten to two and from five to half past eight, and between two and five some streets go quiet. Supermarkets, department stores and shopping centres usually stay open all day.

The word itself is older than the custom: siesta comes from the Latin sexta, the sixth hour counted from sunrise, which was midday — the hottest part of the day, when people in the fields stopped work.

• Only about one Spaniard in six takes a siesta every day; more than half say they never do.
• Many small shops open from ten to two and from five to half past eight; larger shops usually stay open all day.
• Siesta comes from the Latin sexta, the sixth hour: the Romans counted the hours from sunrise, so the sixth hour was midday.
• In summer many offices work a jornada intensiva, from eight to three. It is common in July and August but not a legal right: it depends on the agreement or the company.
• Phoning somebody at home between about three and five can be taken as rude, especially by older people. If a shop is shut at three, come back at five.

Pero la mayoría de los españoles no duerme la siesta.

But most Spaniards do not take a siesta.

Siesta viene del latín sexta, la hora sexta.

Siesta comes from the Latin sexta, the sixth hour.

Muchas tiendas pequeñas abren de diez a dos y de cinco a ocho y media.

Many small shops are open from ten to two and from five to half past eight.

Y si una tienda está cerrada a las tres, vuelva a las cinco.

And if a shop is shut at three, come back at five.

Why so late? Look at the clock

Part of the answer is on the wall. Spain keeps the same time as France, Germany and Italy, although by its position on the map it belongs with Portugal and London, which are an hour behind. In 1940 Franco's government put the clocks forward one hour, and they never went back.

So in Madrid the sun is highest at about a quarter past one in winter and a quarter past two in summer. Measured by the sun, a lunch at half past two is not so late. The Canary Islands keep their own time, one hour behind the rest of Spain — the radio says it every hour: una hora menos en Canarias.

Not everybody thinks the clock explains everything: some point to the hard years after the Civil War, when many people held two jobs and ate between them.

• Spain keeps the same time as France, Germany and Italy; Portugal, next door, is an hour behind.
• In 1940 Franco's government put the clocks forward one hour, and Spain has kept that time zone ever since.
• The Canary Islands are one hour behind the rest of Spain.
• Whether the clock explains the late hours is debated: others point to post-war double jobs, or argue that Spanish hours simply follow the sun.

En 1940 el Gobierno de Franco adelantó los relojes una hora, y así se quedaron.

In 1940 Franco's government put the clocks forward one hour, and there they stayed.

Una razón es el reloj: España tiene la hora de Berlín, no la de Londres.

One reason is the clock: Spain keeps Berlin time, not London time.

Words for the day

desayunar

to have breakfast

comer

to eat; in Spain, often to have lunch

merendar

to have an afternoon snack

cenar

to have dinner

la farmacia de guardia

the duty chemist

la jornada intensiva

the continuous working day (summer, 8 to 3)

¿Dónde está la farmacia de guardia?

Where is the duty chemist?

Voy a echarme una siesta.

I'm going to have a nap.