A controversial and stereotypical view of Spanish culture ? ...
Time's up
for siestas, delayed meetings and late nights, Spaniards told in effort to make
them work better
Spaniards should ditch their
siesta culture, stop being late for meetings and get to bed earlier, MPs have
been told.
By The Telegraph
Their three-hour lunch breaks
have long been the envy of workers in neighbouring countries, their business
meetings often start late and millions of them rarely get to bed till well
after midnight.
But now Spaniards face growing
pressure to give up their siestas, bring their working day into line with the
rest of western Europe - and switch their clocks to the same time zone as
Britain.
A parliamentary commission has
called for fundamental reform to traditional working hours and practices as
part of Spain's effort to break out of recession and reduce the chronic
unemployment that has dogged its economy for the best part of a decade.
The review, by the National
Commission for the Rationalisation of Working Hours, is expected to win the
backing of a panel of MPs on Thursday.
"We need more flexible
working hours, to cut our lunch breaks, to streamline business meetings by
setting time limits for them, and to practise and demand punctuality,"
says the report.
Long lunch breaks are a throwback
to the time when working outdoors became unbearable in midday temperatures of
40C or more but have persisted - along with the habit of working till 9pm, then
socialising until late at night - despite the advent of air conditioned
factories, offices and shops.
The result is that even though
Spaniards put in more hours in total than equivalent workers in Germany, they
waste more time and produce far less. They also have on average one hour less
sleep per night.
"In these difficult and
critical times, Spain urgently needs more humane working hours," the
Commission says. "This would raise productivity, lower absenteeism and
accidents, as well as reducing drop-out rates from school."
The report also recommends
ditching the use of Central European Time which - since Madrid is further west
than Plymouth - means daylight and working hours are out of synch. Spain
adopted Berlin time in 1942, at the height of the Second World War, when it was
sympathetic to Nazi Germany.
The Commission has told MPs that
a shorter, sharper and better timed working day would improve Spaniards'
quality of life, raise the country's low birth rates and reduce the rate of
marriage breakdown.