Calls for Catalonia to be in different time zone to Spain

Catalan separatists have called for the northeastern region to put the clocks back by an hour and move into a different time zone, claiming the change would “differentiate” it from the rest of Spain.

The idea was proposed by Jordi Domingo, head of the Consell de la República, an independent group that pushes Catalan independence, in an interview with Catalan-language publication VilaWeb. 

It would consist of businesses and organisations adopting Greenwich Mean Time, meaning an hour less than the rest of Spain on Central European Time (CET).

READ ALSO: Catalonia is the preferred region for job-seeking foreigners in Spain

Domingo stated that changing the time zone is a way of “differentiating themselves from Spain”. Some in the Catalan separatist movement have previously argued that Spanish time is a legacy of the Franco regime and that having different time zones would be a step towards Catalan sovereignty.

Domingo feels the hour difference “could be extraordinarily powerful”, creating the idea of Catalan time: “why don’t we Catalans change the time? Why don’t we put ourselves on the Greenwich meridian? Why don’t the self-employed professionals, who are in charge in our country, say that we will work hours according to Catalan time?”

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However, Domingo did acknowledge that the proposal is likely a minority position. “If 200,000 people change our timetable, we act and we end up forcing them to distinguish between Spanish and Catalan timetables, we have won, we have started to impose our own way of doing things,” he explained.

“You show that you are sovereign, that you are in charge and that Spanish law does not influence you,” he added, suggesting putting the clocks back would also send a message abroad: “We can also tell foreigners that the Catalan schedule is different.”

That Domingo speaks of hundreds of thousands of people while the population of the region is over 8 million (according to data from the Catalan regional stats body) and roots the idea in small businesses and the self-employed shows what a minority, often centre-right and middle-class issue Catalonian independence has become in recent years.

In regional elections in 2024, separatist parties lost their absolute majority for the first time since 2012.

READ ALSO: Separatists lose Catalan majority as Spain’s Socialists surge

Similarly, the Consell de la República has lost a lot of its political muscle and influence since Carles Puigdemont, the fugitive former leader of Catalonia who called the illegal independence referendum in 2017, fled the country. 

Analysis in the Spanish media on both the left and right view announcements such as this as an attempt to stay relevant. 

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However, to say that Spain’s time zone is a remnant of the dictator Francisco Franco regime is not entirely incorrect. In fact some have suggested that Spain is in the wrong time zone because of the former dictator.

Madrid lies directly south of London. It makes sense, then, that Spain was in the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) zone until around 75 years ago. But that all changed in 1940. With Nazi Germany occupying Belgium, Holland, and parts of France, Franco travelled to the French border to meet with Hitler.

Franco didn’t have much to offer in terms of materiel or money, however. With the country ravaged by its own recent Civil War – in which Franco’s victory was heavily supported by Hitler –  Franco felt obliged to make a gesture of some sort.

Although ultimately remaining neutral in the war, Franco decided to show his support for Hitler by putting Spain’s clocks forward by an hour in an act of solidarity.

Spain has remained in the CET zone ever since, in line with countries as far east as Poland. That means that Madrid currently has the same time as Warsaw in Poland 2,290km away but is one hour ahead of Lisbon which is only 502 km away. 

READ ALSO: Why Spain is still in the wrong time zone because of Hitler