A compulsory siesta law? Only in Spain

Only in Spain do you have to tell the barman to leave just a little room for the mixer when you order a rum and coke. Only in Spain do you need an extra table brought to your table when you order a paella. And only in Spain do you have to dodge little ones running between your feet across the local village square at midnight as you try to weave your way to your favourite table…

Yes, Spaniards are adept at living life to the brim, so it  is only fair that the Spanish get a chance to properly unwind after an evening of excess. This is what the famous Spanish siesta was designed for, but in this modern world of fast-paced lunch breaks and always-on connectivity, many parts of Spain have seemingly lost the knack of the nap.

Which is why one Valencian town is bringing in a new law to ensure that every man, woman and child lucky enough to live there has the right to 40 winks every afternoon.

That’s right – Ador, a tiny pueblo between Alicante and Valencia – has made it compulsory for its inhabitants to take a siesta. The mayor of the town has decreed (because that’s what mayors do) that between the hours of 2pm and 5pm the entire settlement must settle down for a mandatory lie-down, thus upholding Ador’s adoration for the siesta – an adoration that stretches back for centuries.

“Everything closes between 2pm and 5pm,” said a town hall spokesman when interviewed by local press. “Bars, shops, the swimming pool, everything.”

Ador is the only town in Spain to actually make it law that a siesta be taken, although many of the sleepier corners of the country will have a very similar siesta culture.

Numerous studies have proven that the siesta is actually beneficial to one’s health, prolonging life, slowing ageing and easing stress. It is not so great, however, for a town’s economy, and those many hours when very little cash changes hands or business is done can prove costly, especially for a country that is only just recovering from a double-dip recession.

But that’s a very Anglo-Saxon way of looking at it. Much of the economy in and around Ador is agricultural anyway, meaning it makes a lot of sense to seek shade and snooze during the hottest part of the day.

“Many people here work in the countryside, so it’s very usual to take a long lunch break and have a siesta after eating,” explained Ador’s mayor, Joan Faus Vitoria.