Siesta

Siesta =  'afternoon nap' in Spanish.  Historically, this was taken in the mid-afternoon after a heavy meal.

While the idea of daily napping is not as prevalent anymore, the siesta lives on through the daily mid-day closing of local stores, shops, offices, schools, banks, and... well basically everything.  At this time people either return home or go out for a large lunch (think dinner time in the States).  You'd think this would be prime time for the restaurant business, but even many restaurants close at this time.  I mean hello, restaurant owners have to eat lunch too.

Row of closed shops.  Taken at 3:04 PM on a Thursday.

Siesta typically lasts 2-3 hours and takes place anywhere from 1 to 5.  No two stores seem to have the same siesta hours, which can be a bit frustrating.  Here are a few local schedules below.

This first one is fairly typical... Mon-Fri 10-2 and then 5:30 to 8, Saturdays 10-2, Sundays CLOSED.

I love the complication of this second one... starting and ending on quarter to and past the hour.  I also would like you to note that the Saturday schedule of 10-1:30 was recently changed to 11-1:30... seriously, why even open?!  Of course, also closed on Sundays.

After living in Spain for 14 months we have learned to accept the siesta.  There is no point fighting it; the siesta will always win.  HOWEVER, today it got the best of me when I went to buy laundry detergent at 12:45 (15 minutes before the earliest of siestas) and it was 'closed early' for siesta.  Ugh!  The store didn't even open until 10 and won't reopen until 5:30. That equates to an almost 5-hour lunch break!  Seriously?

Okay enough venting.  But to those reading in the States, please take a moment this week to buy something today from a 24/7 shop, preferably at some absurd hour... just because you can.