[Rail Paul]

The NY Times has an article on the difficulty the new government has with Spain's work schedules. While the EU also believes that Spain should harmonize its work day on the same schedule as the rest of Europe, the Spanish think the EU and their own prime minister oughta go F themselves.

Long lunches are unproductive, and get in the way of doing business, returning phone calls, making and shipping goods. Spain says it's done quite well with the schedule it has, and besides, people in Brussels or Paris or Berlin aren't going to boss Spain around.

So, it looks like Spain will continue to have enjoyable lunches, with a break afterward for personal expression, tapas in the early evening and dinner at the civilized hour of 9 or 10 pm. I was surprised to learn the long siesta and the late working hours date from the 1930s. I figured they were centuries old.

Lunch