The Menorcan night offers the experience Starlight. In this sky, the constellations are drawn with perfect clarity that is reflected in the eyes of those who contemplate them. But this is not its biggest tourist attraction. You are going to Menorca to enjoy a bigger star. If there was a choice between one more hour of sun or one more hour of moon at the end of the day, most would prefer the former. And if the Balearic Islands could have their own time zone, they would choose to go ahead of the Peninsula. “Good morning. It’s six in the morning. One hour less in the Canary Islands… and one hour more in the Balearic Islands”, they would be pleased to hear on the radio.
Having 60 minutes more than the rest of Spain is more fanciful. But the possibility of maintaining daylight saving time all year round has once again been on the table with the announcement of Pedro Sanchez to make “useful politics” and ask the EU to end the seasonal time change. In his message, the president did not clarify whether the winning schedule would be October or March, perhaps to avoid problems with the extremes: While the east of the country votes for an eternal summer time, the west calls for winter time. In turn, two-thirds of Spaniards want the first, but the expert defenders of a single schedule defend the second.
«Winter time advances the night and shortens life on the street. Menorca has a Mediterranean lifestyle: we like to enjoy the sun, the terraces, coexistence and light,” he defends. Jose Boschpresident of the Confederation of Balearic Business Associations (CAEB) in Menorca. He argues that losing those minutes of afternoon sunshine would hit the tourism sector. That’s why it’s from team summer time. «People want to see Menorca in full sun. “No one comes for night tourism.”continues Bosch from the Petit Hotel 5 Fars.
The island of Menorca has the particularity that, being located in the easternmost area of Spain, it is the place where the sun rises first and sets first. In June and July, sunset begins between 9:10 p.m. and 9:20 p.m. If October schedule were maintained throughout the year, it would get dark between 8:10 p.m. and 8:20 p.m. Even sooner in August. From the tourism sector they consider that it is not only one hour less of sun, but also one hour less to move the Balearic economy.
José Bosch, president of the Confederation of Balearic Business Associations (CAEB) in Menorca.
Bosch knows what motivates tourists. «Why do the British or Germans come to the Mediterranean? Because we have a different lifestyle, because there is sun. Are we now going to become Central Europeans?». He points out that «It would be fair if what happens in the Canary Islands were applied in the Balearic Islands“Before they removed summer time, I preferred to stay with a different schedule than on the Peninsula,” he says.
One of Sánchez’s reasons for raising his proposal for advancing/delaying the clock at the European level is that “science” supports time unification. However, there really is no consensus on this. Jorge Miraprofessor of Applied Physics at the University of Santiago de Compostela, is in favor of maintaining change. Remember that «Spain has seasons and therefore the clock must have a seasonal change and an adaptation so that our activation rhythm tries to mimic the rhythm of the sun as much as possible.
Others, however, agree with the Executive in wanting the same time zone for the four seasons. It is the position of César Martín Izquierdopresident of the National Commission for the Rationalization of Spanish Timetables (ARHOE). He notes that the changes produce “a kind of jet lag for a few days that especially affects people over 50 years of age, children, adolescents and people with serious pathologies.
Based on studies on its effect on health, Martín Izquierdo, unlike Sánchez, dares to say the time he prefers: “October.” “There is medical consensus that it promotes a more stable biological rhythm” and “it is the most beneficial for health, rest, work productivity and school performance,” he justifies. From the organization he represents, he chooses to “dawn with more light.” “We don’t think it’s any drama from any point of view.”
But for the Balearic Islands it would be a drama to maintain the current schedule from today. In this autonomous community, Tourism represents around 40% of the regional GDP. This includes the indirect effects of other sectors (hospitality, transport, commerce and services) that make the archipelago the area most dependent on this activity.
Antoni Sansaloni, president of the Menorcan Association of Cafes, Bars and Restaurants
Anthony Sansalonipresident of the Menorcan Association of Cafes, Bars and Restaurants, also defends that tourists seek sun above all else. Thus, he joins the summer team. Apart from listing the same reasons as José Bosch, he highlights that, otherwise, it would affect daily local life. «The islander is used to being on the street all day, he hardly goes home. But when it gets dark we have no choice.”
Sansaloni is the owner of the Rías Baixas restaurant, which offers Galician Menorcan cuisine. “Summer is better for us, but let’s see what they say on the other side, right?” he reasons, thinking of Galicia. There, if summer time lasted, it would dawn after 10 in the morning in December and January. So he doesn’t take a dim view of having its own time zone in the Balearic archipelago either: “If it could be done by provinces, you wouldn’t insult anyone”.
“It is reasonable that those who live in the eastern areas, such as the Balearic Islands, prefer summer time and that those who live in the western areas, such as Galicia, prefer winter time,” he empathizes. José María Martín Olallaprofessor of Physics at the University of Seville. The solution, he argues, is already in reality: «The seasonal change of time provides a social commitment for which it neither dawns too early in summer in the east, nor too late in winter in the west.
The PP mayor of the town of Ferrerías, Pedro Pons Huguetis also in favor of leaving the current time zone, with its two changes a year. Likewise, take the opportunity to express your opinion beyond the winter/summer debate: “I don’t think this is such a big problem that we need to set up all this candle… It’s a smokescreen, it’s a desire to divert attention». Of course: if he were forced to choose between one or the other, he says that “as a Minorcan,” he would choose the summer one, “because it is what best suits the economic engine of the island, which is tourism.”
Pedro Pons Huguet, mayor of Ferrerías.
In the same line, Llorenç Ferrer Monjomayor for the PSOE of Ciudadela de Menorca, opts for choosing the time of March: «On a political level and at an economic and social level, Summer time is better than winter time due to the importance of tourism in the Balearic Islands.», he details. But, unlike the mayor of Ferrerías, he considers that it is better to leave a single schedule for the entire year. «It is a debate that has been going on for many years and that we should now solve. “You have to achieve the maximum consensus… And there are people with studies and the ability to choose the best option.”
The majority clamor on the island is to steal an hour of sun in the morning to give it to the afternoon. Ramon and Carmenworkers at the Geology Center, also vote for daylight saving time. «The island at night is very dark. There is not much lighting on the street either because light pollution must be avoided due to the Starlight. And you don’t have a shopping center with lights to go to. When it gets dark, you just want to go home. It’s sad», she says.
However, a minority defends winter time. Unlike the rest of the sector, Catalina Florietpresident of the Menorca Activa association, does not despise the idea of it dawning and dusk earlier. «In summer it is very difficult to have sunlight at nine at night because it is very hot. If we take away an hour of sun at night we will have it in the morning. That’s not going to change: we will have the same number of hours of sunshine», he emphasizes.
Llorenç Ferrer Monjo, mayor of Ciudadela de Menorca.
What Catalina would want is what those who advocate establishing a single schedule defend: “October time,” as Martín Izquierdo prefers to say. He considers that “Talking about summer and winter time conditions the debate”because “summer is associated with leisure, with vacations, when light really has a very important impact on productivity and darkness is demonized when it is the time we dedicate to rest.”
ARHOE also criticizes that «Spain, due to its geographical position, has a time zone that has not corresponded to it since 1940»when Franco chose to advance the clock 60 minutes to coincide with German time. “The first thing would be to eliminate the seasonal time change and maintain the October time and, later, eliminate the 1940 time to return to the correct time,” Martín Izquierdo explains.
For translating the proposal into Menorcan: if in that scenario of double delay of the clock, the Balearic Islands kept the time of the Peninsula, in the month of June on the island It would dawn at 4:20 in the morning and sunset at 7:06 in the afternoon.
Regarding the fact that the time must coincide with the geographical position of the country, Jorge Mira, who has been one of the members of the Spanish Government Commission for the official time, points out that this is not really necessary. «What is a schedule? A schedule is not any kind of universal destiny of planet Earth. The schedule is a numerical reference that can be changed,” he reasons.
Carmen and Agustín, workers at the Menorca Geology Center.
«People think that, because we are on the same vertical axis as the United Kingdom and Portugal, we have to be on the same time stamp. Fake. That is nothing more than a reference. In fact, the inventor of the time zone system himself, Sandford Flemingsaid that it does not matter what number is set for noon: if six, as in biblical times, is 12, or 18, it does not matter… He would turn in his grave to see that in the 21st century there are people who affirm that there is some geographical issue on Earth that says that the time zone must have one value or another… The time zone is a reference. Spain has had its time zone for 85 years and does not have to change anything“, ditch.
Regarding the health problems of adjusting the clocks twice a year, a recurring bastion for requesting a single schedule, professors Martín Olalla and Mira carried out an exhaustive study on these investigations. “We have found that the statistical errors are very high,” shares Mira. «We have noted that these effects are not greater than 5% in any case. It has also been said, by exaggeration, that time change kills. I challenge those people to look in the mortality registry to see if they see any break in the curve on daylight saving days; And I’m already telling you that there is no type of bankruptcy.
Above all, Mira concludes, “the studies that are against the seasonal change now only focus on the problems that exist on the days of the change. They never examine what happens the rest of the year. They do not say that, in the rest of the year, since we have a time stamp more adjusted to that season, people are more circadian adjusted than with a fixed schedule».