CLOCKS in Spain will revert to winter time this weekend but the hour switchback may be the last if the government has its way.
Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, said earlier this week that the country would be spearheading a move to avoid the twice-yearly ritual of changing time- citing health as a key factor.
The European Parliament voted back in 2019 for member states to scrap the time change but nothing has happened so far.
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This week, Spain raised the matter again at a meeting of the EU’s Energy Committee in Luxembourg with a view to end the annual routine as soon as the autumn of 2026.
Right now, the clocks will go back an hour this Sunday at 3am.
The EU currently sets a uniform date and time for the start and end of daylight saving in all member states.
The issue is that the 27 countries have varying positions on the issue.
Pedro Sanchez said on Monday that changing the clock no longer achieves any energy savings and that ‘it has a negative impact on people’s health and wellbeing’.
There is of course the matter as to whether Spain should keep to ‘summer’ time all year around or to ‘winter’ time.
The Comisiones Obreras union and several sleep experts say that ‘winter’ time should be maintained all year, as it is better for health- though that will mean earlier dark evenings during the summer.
The coordinator for the Sleep and Chronobiology Group of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics, Gonzalo Pin, said that the human biological clock adapts slowly to natural changes in light and temperature.
He added that a sudden change disrupts that rhythm, resulting in health problems.
The Association for the Rationalisation of Spanish Schedules which wants to scrap the time change has said- together with medical specialists- that caution should be exercised and a ‘consensus’ reached before making a final decision.
Time changes first appeared in Spain in 1918 though the country essentially stayed on GMT before General Franco moved the clocks forward an hour in 1940 to synchronise with Nazi Germany.
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