siesta

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A young woman takes a siesta in a hammock (painting by Gustave Courbet , 1844)
Siesta in the shade of mango trees in Ouagadougou
Siesta of street dogs in San Cristobal, Chiapas

The siesta [ ˈsjesta ] is the traditional Spanish afternoon nap . Typically, lunch in Spain starts at 2 p.m., and the possible subsequent siesta can last around two hours, i.e. until around 5 or 6 p.m. (often much later in summer than in winter). This afternoon nap is also common in many other warmer countries under other names. B. in southern Italy or Greece. The term goes back to the Latin sexta hora , the sixth hour after sunrise. In the southern countries of Europe , this is the very hot midday, in work and outdoor activities are overly strenuous. You therefore tend to use the early morning hours and especially the late evening to move outside the home and also to work. The lack of sleep is made up for during the day.

To coincide with this afternoon nap, many smaller companies in Spain close between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. This long break is used to drive home for lunch and possibly to have a siesta before the actual afternoon (around 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.) begins. A common misconception is that many non-Spaniards think that the word siesta refers to the long lunch break as a whole.

However, the siesta is clearly on the decline, at least among the working population, as the lunch break in larger companies is usually limited to one or two hours. In global companies, the lunch break is reduced to up to 30 minutes, also following the Central European or American model.

On the other hand, in many Spanish companies there are traditionally a summer working time in which the lunch break is completely canceled. Since at the same time the weekly working time is slightly reduced (about 40 to 35 hours), you then work continuously from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and then (according to the Spanish perspective) the entire afternoon is free, which can also be used for a siesta.

Web links

Commons : Siesta  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Siesta  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations