Spain is believed to have moved closer to the oft-mooted notion of changing time.
The country’s labour minister said on Monday that the government is considering moving the clocks back one hour.
Such an event would bring the time in Spain in line with that in Portugal and also the UK and Ireland.
Spain operates on GMT+1 which is Central European Time (CET). The country was shunted out of Greenwich Mean Time in 1942 by the dictator General Francisco Franco who wanted the country to keep the same hours as those in Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
Fátima Báñez told parliament she wanted to bring Spain’s working days in line with the rest of Europe.
“We want our workdays 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 said.
Such a change is likely to herald the end of Spain’s famed siesta which sees Spaniards finishing work later than other European countries and is seen by some as an impediment to balancing work and family time.
Currently, many employees finish the working day anywhere between 7pm and 9pm usually after a period of free time lasting several hours around mid-day. For many, this means that children do not get to spend time with one or both parents during the week.
Last April, then acting prime minister Mariano Rajoy said he would propose a change in working hours and now the Minister for Labour has brought the matter to parliament for the first time.
Pundits believe the move will have the support of the governing Popular Party, the main opposition Socialists and the smaller Ciudadanos party, making it likely to be approved by parliament.
