Are you happy that the clocks have gone back?

The clocks went back in Spain and the Canaries at 2 am this morning (Sunday 25^th October) giving everyone an extra hour in bed, but bringing darker evenings.

The change means that Lanzarote and the Canaries remain on exactly the same time zone as the UK and Ireland, one hour behind Spain and most of Western Europe,

In recent years there have been several debates about bringing Spain back to GMT. Like the UK, most of Spain lies west of the Prime Meridian that defines Greenwich Mean Time.  However, in 1940 General Franco put the nation’s clocks one hour forward to bring the country into line with Hitler’s Germany.

This means it gets darker much later in Spain than in several other European countries, a situation which many believe affects the body clocks of citizens, causing habitual late nights and tired schoolchildren.

Although the European Commission has proposed eliminating seasonal clock changes, there remains no general agreement on the issue.

If Spain ever did decide to permanently change its time zone, it remains to be seen whether the Canaries, which lie further to the west, would maintain their “one hour less” difference with the mainland.

Opponents of changes claim that earlier nights would cost more in lighting, and could affect the routines of Spaniards who have become used to lighter evenings for leisure activities such as jogging. The tourism industry is also likely to be opposed to shorter evenings.