Spain remains one of the few countries in Europe to continue the tradition of long lunches, and Barcelona nearly shuts down for several hours during the afternoon for siesta. After all, an indulgent mid-day meal often requires a post-feast nap.
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Although both often work from Monday through to Saturday, full-time workers in the private sector can expect to start work at 9am and not finish until 6pm, with a 1-2 hour lunch break, although this is usually shorter in the bigger cities.
It may sound funny, but this is due to a complicated political reason in the past. ?It dates back to World War II when Spain was under the rule of General Francisco Franco, a dictator. In 1940, he changed Spain's clock to one hour ahead to make Spain in the same time zone as Nazi Germany.
As a result, Spaniards who would eat at 1pm or 1.30pm continued to eat at their usual time (now 2pm or 2.30pm), continued to have dinner at 8pm (now 9pm) and continued to go to bed at 11pm (now midnight).
Why do they eat so late in Spain? Spain's famously late mealtimes are due to the fact that the country has been geographically in the wrong time zone since World War II! During all that time, Spaniards have eaten at the same time they always have in regards to the position of the sun in the sky.
In Spain, breakfast occurs between the hours of 8 am to 11 am. It's important to know that some here do not even eat breakfast, as lunch in Spain is typically the largest meal of the day and most locals want to have their appetite for the midday break. In these cases, many will just have coffee or tea.
Greece: 3 hoursA long lunch break in Greece isn't so much about resting. It's also rooted in traditional meal times. Greeks view lunch as the biggest meal of the day, which means it takes more time to chow down.
Lunch -- The most important meal of the day in Spain, lunch is comparable to the farm-style midday dinner in the United States. It usually includes three or four courses, beginning with a choice of soup or several dishes of hors d'oeuvres called entremeses.
Punctuality is not highly important in Spain. People can arrive half an hour late to a social function with no questions raised. If someone turns up late and apologises, people are likely to respond with something like “no pasa nada” – meaning “It's not that important”.
The Spanish siestas likely started after Spanish field workers started taking breaks around the middle of the day to come in out of the sun. During their siestas, they would escape the heat at the hottest time of the day and give themselves time to eat lunch and hang out with their families away from the elements.
In Spain, we eat lunch much later in the day than most other cultures, that is, between the hours of 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm. If you're an international student, you may be used to eating lunch much earlier in the afternoon, probably around 12:00-1:00.