The balancing act

Lorena Muñoz works in the marketing department of a large company based just outside of Barcelona, and her day is typical of that of many Spaniards who work the horario partido (a long working day split by a two-to-three-hour lunch break). She’s at her desk by 9am, breaks for a two-hour lunch at 2pm, then works from 4pm till 7pm. A mother of two, with a partner who works similar hours, their family gets by with some help from her mother, who collects the children from school and fills the gap until Muñoz or her husband gets home. “It’s hard on everyone,” said Muñoz. “We see so little of the kids, and we’re all exhausted when we are together.” Her story is familiar to the many working parents in Spain whose families are held together by the fragile glue of after-school activities and willing grandparents.

To many foreigners, used to a hastily-eaten sandwich at their desk, the long, Spanish lunches can seem leisurely and relaxed, but to those who have no choice, they can be the death knell for a life beyond work. According to the Catalan platform Iniciativa per a la Reforma Horària (Initiative for Reforming Working Hours), about half of Spanish employees are still at their desks at 6pm, 30 percent at 7pm, and 10 percent don’t leave the office until 9pm.

TAKING ITS TOLL

The negative effects of a long working day are many. The weight of combining work and home life is disproportionately carried by women, who still perform the lion’s share of childcare and home duties. According to ‘Maternidad y trayectoria profesional’, a recent study carried out by IESE Business School, and based on a survey of 8,500 people (mostly women between the ages of 25 and 45 with young children), 35.2 percent said they had had to make big sacrifices in their family lives in order to achieve a high position at work, and 77.5 percent said lunchtimes are too late and too long.

The lack of work/life balance almost certainly has some bearing on Spain’s birth rate, one of the lowest in Europe. Since 2008, it has plummeted 28 percent to 1.3 children per woman, well below the European Union average of 1.58. In 2016, for the first time, the country reported a higher number of deaths than births. And, the long day may well be one of the factors contributing to the country’s status as Europe’s most sleep deprived nation. A 2013 study revealed that Spaniards sleep 53 minutes less than the European average. Other factors often associated to Spain’s working hours include obesity, depression and lack of productivity at work.

SEEDS OF CHANGE

It seems like the tide is changing however. The Iniciativa per a la Reforma Horària was launched in 2013, to lobby for change in the region’s schedules. The platform is made up of academics, politicians and professionals, and addresses the many factors affected by Spain’s unusual timetable. These include not only healthier working hours, but also encouraging earlier mealtimes and bringing into line the timetables of institutions and social and cultural players.

Catalan politician Fabian Mohedano of Junts pel Sí and an advocate of the Iniciativa per a la Reforma Horària considers that Spain’s timetable is at the root of many of its problems. “We are the only country in the world where people have lunch at 3pm and dinner at 10pm. We do everything two hours too late,” said Mohedano.

A proposal for adjusting the timetable in Catalunya was announced last year by the Catalan parliament, with all political groups in agreement. The wide-ranging recommendations will promote a social and cultural shift in all areas of life, from education and work to mealtimes, sleep, shopping and leisure activities. They even touch on prime time television. Spain’s most popular programmes generally don’t begin until 10pm or even 11pm. In January, there was furor over the finale of MasterChef Junior, a series ostensibly aimed at children. Aired on a Tuesday evening and watched by three million people, it ended after 1am.

The changes in Catalan schools and universities are planned to come into play by September 2018, after a transitional period during which local administrations will promote and incentivise the changes. Catalunya cannot legally oblige places to follow the proposals but it can create policies that encourage the adoption of new habits. Companies will be supported in adapting to a shorter working day, hopefully reducing absenteeism and improving productivity. And there are plans to introduce special prices for public transport to encourage its use at the new (earlier) peak times.

HOW HARD TO PUSH

There is a lack of agreement on what should be legislated and how much can be achieved through goodwill alone. The Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya is in favour of introducing legislation to ensure that changes are made. For example, the establishing of earlier (and legally binding) closing times for shops. Other parties prefer a route where progress comes through agreements and incentives, such as the idea of giving companies a ‘quality stamp’ that would work in their favour when bidding for public contracts.

Meanwhile, at a national level, progress is also being made, albeit slowly. In December of last year, the Minister for Employment, Fátima Báñez, announced a political and social pact to address the working day. “We want our work days to finish at six o’clock, and to achieve this we will work towards striking a deal with representatives from both companies and trade unions,” she told parliament.

Báñez recognises that one of the hardest sectors to tackle will be small and medium-sized companies. Having recently emerged from a long recession, these businesses may be hard-pressed to finance a big change. The Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empresariales agrees and insists that it supports the efforts to find a balance between work and personal life but warns against legislating a uniform working day, saying that it would be detrimental to workers, consumers, business owners and society, and that it could affect the competitivity of Spanish companies.

CREATURES OF HABIT

Although it remains to be seen how the path forward will look, there is no doubt that Spain’s timetable is deeply ingrained in the nation’s daily habits, and change will be a mammoth task. “Our biggest challenges are fear and ignorance,” said Mohedano. He dates the long hours from the Sixties when, instead of looking for higher productivity as other European countries did, Spain made the working day longer. It is also said to hark back to the post-Civil War times when many people were working double jobs to survive—one in the morning, followed by a break to eat and sleep, and one in the afternoon. Whatever the origins of the Spanish timetable, a change across the board will represent a huge cultural shift. For people like Muñoz and her family, the shift can’t come too soon.