My sleepy little village in Spain ... in the news

[kevsboredagain]

No wonder I have such a hard time getting people to work on the house when something goes wrong.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news ... ry-6085231

[Mouse]

I read that a few weeks ago.

Very cute idea...for the high season and hot temps, but not really practical in day to day living.
Spain is struggling as more cities (Barca was the lead) understand that a classic siesta just isn't realistic in the modern world.

During our road trip across and around Spain some years ago an abiding memory was driving through villages during siesta and just seeing cars abandoned in the road. Literally. You had to drive around them if in the side streets.
Those days are numbered.

Mousie
x
p.s. we had some Swiss guests once who complained to all the neighbours making noise on Sunday. I later found out that it was a Swiss law that no noise was allowed on Sundays. Now that I could go with

[Casscat]

The siesta is being abandoned in large parts of 'head screwed on' Spain and yet now someone enshrines it in local law? Nuts. I am guessing the mayor is about 105 years old and falls asleep every 30 minutes

[Sam V]

The siesta is being abandoned in large parts of 'head screwed on' Spain and yet now someone enshrines it in local law? Nuts. I am guessing the mayor is about 105 years old and falls asleep every 30 minutes

So what happens if you don't comply or can't help it when the joy of sister kicks in?!

[Casscat]

So what happens if you don't comply or can't help it when the joy of sister kicks in?!

Can't help there as I can barely tolerate my sister yet alone enjoy her

[AndrewH]

So what happens if you don't comply or can't help it when the joy of sister kicks in?!

Can't help there as I can barely tolerate my sister yet alone enjoy her

[lorca]

In purely agricultural villages like ours (of which there are many), siestas are vital. It is currently almost 40 degrees here. The villagers are up before dawn working on the land, but the heat becomes impossible by midday. They eat and sleep for a bit. Then they're out again from after five until it get's dark at 10. Then (understandably) they go to the bar for a bit and stay up late as the temp is almost bearable at night . Another short sleep then they're up again. The Muscatel grapes, which grow in very steep slopes, are one of the main crops here. They are harvested next month, then dried on the land and made into raisins (each one then clipped by hand). It's a bloody hard life and I wouldn't want to do it.

Of course it's different in bigger towns and cities where it's increasingly important to keep the same ours as international businesses. But Spain is still a predominately agricultural country...Just sayin...

[Mouse]

As I understand it Lorca that is why the siesta was a custom in Spain....for agricultural workers and rural Spain.

It was the same here....it was either fishing, agriculture or salt production. And as no one was around during siesta it made sense for the shops to shut and services to stop.

A few years ago Zara were fined by the council because they were opening in siesta.
Happily Zara with its huge team of lawyers fought and won. Within a few months most of the modern shops were also opening in siesta. They clearly wanted but were afraid of the fines.
It is now one of the busiest times for them...especially in tourist season.
The old guard though still refuse to open, and moan every year about profits dropping.

Mouse
x

[Casscat]

In purely agricultural villages like ours (of which there are many), siestas are vital. It is currently almost 40 degrees here. The villagers are up before dawn working on the land, but the heat becomes impossible by midday. They eat and sleep for a bit. Then they're out again from after five until it get's dark at 10. Then (understandably) they go to the bar for a bit and stay up late as the temp is almost bearable at night . Another short sleep then they're up again. The Muscatel grapes, which grow in very steep slopes, are one of the main crops here. They are harvested next month, then dried on the land and made into raisins (each one then clipped by hand). It's a bloody hard life and I wouldn't want to do it.

Of course it's different in bigger towns and cities where it's increasingly important to keep the same ours as international businesses. But Spain is still a predominately agricultural country...Just sayin...

Such practices will continue for reasons of logic, but why close an air conditioned solicitor's office, retail unit or bank for siesta? It doesn't happen in other countries with high summer temperatures. If laws are there to protect agricultural workers then fine, make the local or central laws specific to certain sectors, but to ring-fence the right to siesta for all is an employment law and business profitability nightmare.

[kevsboredagain]

Because all the small businesses are shut all afternoon, I plan my day to do work in the house or garden in the morning, when it's cooler, then pick up supplies at places like Leroy Merlin or Carrefour in the afternoon. Those places are much quieter at that time. I can then continue working in the evening.

You would think with the economy in Spain being so depressed, they would avoid taking a full 5 hours off in the day. Our local chemist is only open 9am-12 and 5-8pm.

[pambon]

In purely agricultural villages like ours (of which there are many), siestas are vital. It is currently almost 40 degrees here. The villagers are up before dawn working on the land, but the heat becomes impossible by midday. They eat and sleep for a bit. Then they're out again from after five until it get's dark at 10. Then (understandably) they go to the bar for a bit and stay up late as the temp is almost bearable at night . Another short sleep then they're up again. The Muscatel grapes, which grow in very steep slopes, are one of the main crops here. They are harvested next month, then dried on the land and made into raisins (each one then clipped by hand). It's a bloody hard life and I wouldn't want to do it.

Of course it's different in bigger towns and cities where it's increasingly important to keep the same ours as international businesses. But Spain is still a predominately agricultural country...Just sayin...

Just about the same here too. Afternoon temps are impossible unless you work in an air conditioned place.

What really gets me though is that the whole country comes to a complete shut down for the month of August. God help you if you fall ill or need a mechanic for anything or have to replace, in an emergency, a white goods.

In fact my offspring's fridge has all but given up the ghost he informed me this morning but we hope it will tick over to September...!

[AndrewH]

What really gets me though is that the whole country comes to a complete shut down for the month of August. God help you if you fall ill or need a mechanic for anything or have to replace, in an emergency, a white goods.

In fact my offspring's fridge has all but given up the ghost he informed me this morning but we hope it will tick over to September...!

And where do all the Italians go in August? The answer is on holiday in Kefalonia. Nice though, because the supermarkets stock up with Italian specialities.

[lorca]

"You would think with the economy in Spain being so depressed, they would avoid taking a full 5 hours off in the day. Our local chemist is only open 9am-12 and 5-8pm."

"why close an air conditioned solicitor's office, retail unit or bank for siesta? "

I can't answer for other areas, but most small businesses here serve the local community, who as I said are eating and resting during the siesta. There would be little point in them opening at that time - although I'm unaware of any law preventing them should they want to. This may inconvenience a few foreign incomers who would like things to work the way they did at home, but it's our choice to live here.
In large cities or tourist areas then things are understandably different.

[pambon]

What really gets me though is that the whole country comes to a complete shut down for the month of August. God help you if you fall ill or need a mechanic for anything or have to replace, in an emergency, a white goods.

In fact my offspring's fridge has all but given up the ghost he informed me this morning but we hope it will tick over to September...!

And where do all the Italians go in August? The answer is on holiday in Kefalonia. Nice though, because the supermarkets stock up with Italian specialities.

Kalymnos, Andrew!! The climber's paradise....

[Casscat]

In large cities or tourist areas then things are understandably different.

The weird thing is, frequently they're not. Many businesses (other than eateries etc.) close for siesta in major resorts. Banks close at 2pm and don't reopen at all. It just seems a little strange, and as commented upon before this is not mirrored in other blisteringly hot countries, i.e. banks in Turkey open 9-5, Monday to Friday in urban, touristic and non-urban locations, pharmacies 9am to 7pm with no mid day break six days a week, post offices 9am to 5pm five days a week.