Every October, Spain does that strange time-twisting ritual, the clocks go back an hour.
I will cheer about getting an extra hour in bed but then March comes round, I will regret everything!
The idea came about in the 1970s to save energy. Fair enough, that made sense back then. But today?
Spain’s time zone
What makes it dafter is, Spain’s time zone doesn’t even match where it sits on the map. In 1940, Francisco Franco moved Spain’s clocks forward to line up with Nazi Germany. And Spain has stuck with it ever since.
On Sunday, 26 October 2025, the clocks will go back one hour. That marks the start of winter time. We will get longer nights, shorter days, and the usual round of moaning about whether daylight saving still makes sense.
Don’t get me wrong, the October change has its perks. That extra hour in bed? Bliss. But come March, when we lose it again, ahhhhhh. Mondays are bad enough without time travel.
Travel and tourist chaos
The clock change also plays havoc with travel. Airlines, trains, and buses all have to tweak their timetables. Alicante Airport says its systems update automatically, which is reassuring. Still, I wouldn’t fancy explaining to a half-asleep traveller why their 7:00 flight is suddenly at 6:00.
Clock change: Why do we still bother?
Like the rest of the EU, Spain still changes the clocks twice a year. The idea was to make better use of daylight and save energy. But most people aren’t convinced it actually works anymore.
Some say we should keep summer time all year. Others prefer winter time because it matches natural daylight hours. The EU has been debating it for years. The Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN) says Spain will stick with the current system until Brussels finally decides.
