What happend with siesta?

[ArualyEgroj]

I´d just like to know why people outside of Spain think Siesta is so important here and where from this though comes.

A girl from U.S. told me she though every single person MUST to take siesta and even there is an hour in which everybody sleeps where ever they are. :confused:

[greytop]

...
A girl from U.S. told me she though every single person MUST to take siesta and even there is an hour in which everybody sleeps where ever they are. :confused: Now that is one law they might enforce easily ;D I think in summer it is necessary to relax (not necessarily sleep) for a while in the afternoon as the heat becomes very oppressive. It's the same in many other tropical countries - the Spanish just gave it a name!

[Beckett]

I´d just like to know why people outside of Spain think Siesta is so important here and where from this though comes.

A girl from U.S. told me she though every single person MUST to take siesta and even there is an hour in which everybody sleeps where ever they are. :confused:

Spain needs to hire Steve Jobs or whoever does marketing for Nike or Coke to change this image. But let's face it, Spanish businesses shutting down in August and shops and government offices closing mid-afternoon for two to three hours every day, really doesn't help the perception that the siesta isn't alive and well in Spain.

[MrMark]

Isn't it the case that a lot of shops will close for 2 hours (or more in the south) in the middle of the day? I think it's resulted in a lot of westerners/Guiris making assumptions, particularly if they only visit Spain at the height of summer.
Also a lot of the literaturefrom the past (Hemingway, Lawrie Lee etc) relates stories from experiences in fishing or agricultural villages, when people used to start work at dawn (to avoid the full power of the heat) and would take a siesta in the afternoon.

[rod]

I´d just like to know why people outside of Spain think Siesta is so important here and where from this though comes.




I think it's because most visitors who come to Spain come during the summer months and where they go is Andalucia, and in Sevilla, Granada etc in July/August even if you don't actually go to sleep there's not much chance getting much else done in the mid afternoon! I suppose most visitors think the siesta applies all year round.

[ArualyEgroj]

I´m sure you are right but i´m from madrid and here i dont know anybody who takes siesta but small children and elder people,
and think its normal in andalucia in summer with 45 degress...
but the leyenda is so strong that i dont understand.

[ArualyEgroj]

I´m sure you are right but i´m from madrid and here i dont know anybody who takes siesta but small children and elder people,
and think its normal in andalucia in summer with 45 degress...
but the leyenda is so strong that i dont understand.

[MrMark]

Do employees still get 14 payments a year (ie double payments at Christmas and in the summer, no doubt by adjusting the other payments downwards)? I used to think this was a great idea, and hoped that backward Britain would catch on :D
However, as more and more of us are switched to contract or temporary jobs, it probably wouldn't be feasible. I suspect it will die away in Spain too.

[bri10s]

well i can agree with the andalucia thing. i lived in sevilla last year for 5 months, and aside from the big stores (el corte ingles, the stores in the mall) and the little chino shops, the city did shut down for 3 hrs each day. my host mother's daughter would come to her apt for lunch every day (she worked nearby), and then take a 1 hr nap. sooooo, maybe it's dying out in madrid, but siesta is still at least partially alive in sevilla!

[zuri]

Do employees still get 14 payments a year (ie double payments at Christmas and in the summer, no doubt by adjusting the other payments downwards)? I used to think this was a great idea, and hoped that backward Britain would catch on

Its still used.

I was a Service Engineer in Malaga, our hours of work were 9-1pm working, 1-4.30pm lunch, 4.30-8pm work.

The company was based throughout Spain and those hours were standard, although most areas the guys worked through the lunch break, only stopping for 30 minutes or less.

In Malaga my Spanish clients always refused to have me visit during lunch times.

[guapo]

Do employees still get 14 payments a year (ie double payments at Christmas and in the summer, no doubt by adjusting the other payments downwards)? I used to think this was a great idea, and hoped that backward Britain would catch on :D


actually that is not confined to just Spain, it also common in Italy and probably a few other countries as well. Depending on the contract it can be 13 or 14 payments - of course the annual salary does not change :rolleyes:

To get this thread back on track - check out this guide to the perfect nap/siesta (http://www.43folders.com/2008/06/17/guide-better-napping)
:zzzzz's:

[ArualyEgroj]

Do employees still get 14 payments a year (ie double payments at Christmas and in the summer, no doubt by adjusting the other payments downwards)? I used to think this was a great idea, and hoped that backward Britain would catch on :D
However, as more and more of us are switched to contract or temporary jobs, it probably wouldn't be feasible. I suspect it will die away in Spain too.

and there are aswell jobs with 15 payments: christmas, summer, and venefits in march.