And, coincidentally, there's a back page article on prodects for the morbidly obese....

I never cared much for long lunches, finding that they tended to derail any trains of thought I might have gotten moving in the morning. Also a heavy meal pretty much trashes the afternoon as far as productivity is concerned.

However, I do admire the German custom of eating two light breakfasts, perhaps a bowl of cereal before beginning work and some rolls with sausage or fruit and coffee around 9-9:30. If you do have to do morning meetings the second breakfast is a good way to break them up, and it can also provide a handy excuse in larger offices for the topical conversations of 20 minutes or so that are often all that's needed to make sure everyone is talking to one another.

As long as they don't ban "nooners", I'm all good...

Two-hour siesta? Why not just do what the gringos do and eat lunch all day long?

The one benefit of socialists in power is supposed to be the PREVENTION of rolling back glorious national inefficiencies in the name of neoliberalim.

Zappo really truly does suck at everything now.

"The Círculo de Empresarios, a business lobby group, said it thought Spain’s long lunches were an inefficient way to break up the day".

No doubt that these business owners will continue to keep the 2 hour lunch tradition alive, while their workers are prohibited from enjoying the same privilege...

I don't get it-why are siestas self-evidently less efficient? If I spend 8 hours at work, what (efficiency) difference does it make whether those 8 hours are 8-12 and 1-5, rather than 8-2 and 4-6?

Now, if in Spain, people don't spend 8 hours of time in their offices, then I can see it being less efficent. But the difference in efficiency is due to the lack of office time, not the length of lunch time (i.e: not the Siesta itself).

(frankly, I could see a Siesta culture being MORE efficient. During a 2 hour siesta, one could take a child to the doctor or dentist, get one's driver's license renewed, etc etc-all the little tasks that couldn't be done in a 1 hour lunch hour, and in our culture require either the use of annual leave, or a 'sneaking out of the office' to get accomplished).

Steve

The removal of the Siesta would damage the Spanish economy more than it would improve productivity.

As Steve rightly pointed out efficiency is not liked to a long lunch break but to the time and quality of the work achieved in office hours. Some have mentioned that a "hearty lunch" prevents good quality work being achieved in the afternoon - one should remember that a Siesta is seldom accompanied by a "hearty lunch" but Tapas, a selection of small dishes. Is it seldom easy to consume a "hearty meal" in a climate such as Spain's. The Siesta is more commonly accompanied by a sleep by city dwellers who on the continent frequently live within walking distance of their place of work. And many studies have proved that short "cat naps" or "power naps" are very beneficial to productivity.

Further to that, the Siesta provides a stimulus to the economy thought the cafe society. People spend time and money in cafes during the siesta, were this to be removed then less would be spent in that sector - yes, more may be spent on fast food and take away food - but is this really desirable? Is the Americanisation of European culture desirable? And should it be being encouraged by a European government - especially one that calls itself a Socialist government?

This legislative change is a great blow for Spanish, and European society as a whole. Let us hope the steadfastness of this socially beneficial custom prevails and businesses do not use this to screw the average working man.

Alastair

Ah the naive.

I don't get it-why are siestas self-evidently less efficient? If I spend 8 hours at work, what (efficiency) difference does it make whether those 8 hours are 8-12 and 1-5, rather than 8-2 and 4-6?

Double rush hours with double the consumption of fuel and the like, much time wasted in traffic, etc.

Of course if one naively imagines the bucolic pre-modern pace, one can forget this.

(frankly, I could see a Siesta culture being MORE efficient. During a 2 hour siesta, one could take a child to the doctor or dentist, get one's driver's license renewed, etc etc-all the little tasks that couldn't be done in a 1 hour lunch hour, and in our culture require either the use of annual leave, or a 'sneaking out of the office' to get accomplished).

I actually laughed when I read this. The author presumes, naively, that any of these things are in fact possible. They are not. Everyone is off at seista. Literally everyone. Getting anything done during seista time is a losing proposition (there exceptions to be sure).

Apparently you have never been to Spain, EVERYTHING closes during siesta. In some of the larger towns you might be able to find a coffee shop but for the most part, people go home to be with their families and all the business close.