Why does Spain not use GMT?

It was only during World War II, in 1940, that Spain's fascist leader, Francisco Franco, changed the time zone to CET so that the country could be line with Nazi Germany and its occupied lands. After the war, Franco stayed in power until the 1970s. The clocks were never changed back.



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During World War II, Franco moved Spain's time zone ahead one hour to Central European Time in solidarity with Nazi Germany. Because of this, the sun also tends to set pretty late in Spain, which is part of the reason dinner (and nightlife) tends to start so late.

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Spain has two time zones and observes daylight saving time. Spain mainly uses CET (UTC+01:00) and CEST (UTC+02:00) in Peninsular Spain, Ceuta, Melilla and the plazas de soberanía. In the Canary Islands, the time zone is WET (UTC±00:00) and WEST (UTC+01:00).

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Since 1st January 2021, the UK is now considered as a “third country”. Any British citizen who wants to emigrate to Spain (or stay for longer than three months in the country) will need to apply for a visado nacionale (long-term visa). This includes those who have a second home in Spain, but no form of residency.

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