During the month of October, Spain will resume winter timea custom rooted in our country for the coldest months of the year. This time change It is the result of a practice that has been carried out for years in all the countries of the European Union and that, on up to two occasions, alters the configuration of the clocks in our homes to adjust our schedules.
These regulations, implemented by the European Parliament in the countries that belong to the eurozone, aim to adjust the working day to the hours of natural light that exist during the coldest and warmest months of the year. As they have always justified from Europe, the intention is to increase electricity savingsan objective that contrasts greatly with the current energy crisis that is being experienced.
But when will this time change take place in Spain in 2024? Will we have to set the clock back or forward to adapt to the new winter time? This is everything you need to keep in mind regarding the October time change.
Does the clock go back or forward with the time change?
The October time change will once again establish the characteristic winter schedule in our country. Thus, from Next Sunday, October 27in Spain it will dawn earlier and also dusk much earlier than in the summer and spring months.
It will be the early morning of Saturday the 26th to Sunday the 27th of October 2024. That night, the Spanish we will have to turn the clocks back an hour and we can sleep more: at 03:00 a.m. it will be 02:00 a.m.. For its part, in the Canary Islands this change will take place at 2 in the morning.
The reasons why we change the time
The first to propose this time change was the politician and scientist Benjamin Franklin which in 1784 he asked to be implemented to prevent many workers from having to start or end their day by candlelight.
All countries of the European Union For years now, they have followed the dynamic of turning the time back and forth depending on the seasons in which we find ourselves. This is regulated by Directive 2000/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of January 19, 2001, which establishes this time change annually. The intention is to contribute to energy savingsadjusting the hours of natural light to the work day.
The time change affects our health, according to experts
However, although it has been implemented in the eurozone for years, this measure has been marked by controversy and many have asked that it stop being applied. In fact, many experts consider that, far from achieving energy savings, these constant schedule changes can influence the health of citizenshaving negative consequences “on sleep, cardiovascular alterations or consequences in children, the elderly and vulnerable people.”
In 2018, the then president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, decided to end this practice before 2021. Capitals could then decide whether to stick with summer or winter time. Although the deadline to communicate it ended in April 2020, The coronavirus pandemic paralyzed these decisions and, since then, the same schedule system has been followed as until now.
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