Ten years ago, in the aftermath of a financial crisis, Spain’s sacred siesta seemed under serious threat. Criticism grew across Europe that Spain’s sluggish economy was partly due to the long lunch break. Concerned about the stereotype of a sleepy, lazy country, Spain vowed to abolish siesta to boost productivity.
The siesta lived on, though rumors of its demise circulated. And with Europe gripped by more frequent and longer heat waves, other countries have come to appreciate the wisdom of the siesta, including Germany, where a strong work ethic is sometimes prized to the point of derision.
During the economic crisis, German newspapers also mocked the siesta. But this summer, some German officials and labor experts are extolling the virtues of a midday break.
“Siesta during the heat is certainly not a bad suggestion”, said Karl Lauterbach, Germany’s health minister, is responding to calls this week from top German public health officials to imitate Spain, where shops are still closing and streets empty between 2 and 4 p.m. in many cities
The heat — temperatures in Germany hovered around 90 degrees Fahrenheit this week — is forcing people to rethink their way of life and look to southern countries as examples of how to adapt to rising temperatures.
“We have to follow the working practices of southern countries during the heat,” said Johannes Niessen, the president of Germany’s largest national doctors’ association, in an interview with the RND news outlet this week. “Getting up early, working productively in the morning and having a siesta in the afternoon is a concept we should embrace in the summer months.”
The origin of the famous siesta in Spain is a matter of debate. Some say the practice originated in the country’s rural areas, where farmers took a break to avoid overheating during the hottest hours of the day and returned to the fields when temperatures cooled. Another explanation is that the disjointed day originated in post-civil war Spain, when many people worked two jobs, one in the morning and the other in the late afternoon. The siesta has been typical of Spanish life for decades, although today it is less common among many urban Spaniards.
Yet on a recent afternoon in Granada, southern Spain, many of the town’s shops were closed for the afternoon and local residents were cooped up in their homes, shuttered, as the cobbled streets boiled in temperatures of over 90 degrees.
It is a break that many still hold dear. In 2015, the mayor of a village near Valencia issued an edict urging residents and visitors not to make noise during the siesta “to ensure everyone’s peace and thus better cope with the hardships of summer.”
But the siesta has also been the subject of intense ridicule and criticism, especially after Spain struggled to recover from a devastating economic crisis in the 2010s.
Even in Spain, a pro-efficiency movement called the National Commission for the Rationalization of Spanish Timetables, which gained momentum after the crisis, argued that adopting a more regular schedule could make the country more productive. In 2016, the then Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, tried to shorten the time for siesta to bring the country more in line with the rest of Europe.
The long lunch break has pushed dinner in Spain late into the evening, to 9 or 10 p.m., meaning Spaniards sometimes eat when Germans are already in bed.
Siestas are used to chill, take a nap, recharge and have lunch. And with Central and Northern Europe experiencing the same extreme temperatures that Spain has been experiencing for years, the siesta seems like a good idea.
“Humans are not as efficient in strong heat as otherwise,” said Mr Niessen, the representative of German doctors.
Several research papers, including from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have shown that naps improve productivity. The benefit of siesta has also been recognized for people’s health. Researchers at the University College of London showed in a study published last month that regular naps can help protect brain health as they age.
The team of researchers estimated that “the average difference in brain volume between people programmed to be habitual naps and those who were not was equivalent to 2.6 to 6.5 years of aging.”
Trade unions in Germany and other Northern European countries have been calling in recent years to emulate the Spanish model.
Anja Piel, a board member of a union representing 6 million German workers, told German media this week that employers should close offices with temperatures above 95 degrees. “Employers need to ease the burden,” Ms Piel said.
Catie Edmondson contributed reporting from Berlin and Juliette Gueron-Gabrielle from Paris.
