The time change was not born as a social custom, but as an emergency measure.
During the First World War, several European countries advanced their clocks to better utilize sunlight and reduce fuel consumption. Decades later, in the oil crisis of the 70s, this practice became consolidated in many countries, including Spain.
The objective was simple: to spend less energy on lighting and adapt economic activity to daylight hours.
The great turn: why Spain has a time zone that does not belong to it
Here is the key that explains everything.
Due to its geographical position, Spain should share a time zone with Portugal or the United Kingdom, that is, that of the Greenwich meridian. However, since 1940 the country uses Central European Time.
That change occurred during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who decided to advance the clock one hour to align it with continental Europe in the midst of World War II.
The measure was proposed as temporary. It was never reversed.
Today, the Canary Islands maintains the time that geographically would correspond to all of Spain.
Living out of sync: what this schedule really implies
This discrepancy has deeper consequences than it seems.
Spain operates with an “official” hour that does not coincide with solar time, which explains everyday phenomena:
- Workdays that end later
- Meal and dinner times more delayed
- Feeling of longer days in summer
- Mismatch between the social and biological clock
In practice, Spain permanently lives ahead of its natural position.
The current debate: health, productivity and common sense
In recent years, the time change has gone from being a routine to becoming a political, scientific, and social debate.
More and more experts question its real usefulness:
- Energy saving is increasingly smaller
- Health impacts are detected (sleep, stress, circadian rhythm)
- Accidents slightly increase after the change
Added to this is the climatic context: more extreme summers and higher temperatures call into question if it makes sense to continue shifting activity towards later hours.
Europe does not agree
The European Union attempted to eliminate the time change in 2018, but the project was blocked.
The problem is not technical, but political: each country should choose its definitive schedule, and there is no consensus. Meanwhile, the system remains the same: two changes a year and a debate that never finishes resolving.