Spain: Appointment Alert! - Part 2
From ExecutivePlanet.com
Holidays, vacations, and punctuality
You should always make appointments well in advance and confirm them by letter, fax or e-mail just before your arrival.
If a public holiday [and Spain has the highest number in Europe with at least fourteen, mostly national, but also regional and local] falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, many people take a four-day weekend [known as hacer puente]. Spain remains a strongly Catholic country and many official holidays relate to religious festivals, particularly days of obligation such as Corpus Christi [a movable feast celebrated in Cordoba, Seville and Toledo], and the immovable Feasts of Epiphany [6 January], Saint James [25 July], the Assumption [15 August]], All Saints [1 November] and the Immaculate Conception [8 December]. The secular National Holiday is 12 October [Día de la Hispanidad (Hispanic Day)] and 6 December is Día de la Constituciòn [Constitution Day]. Confusingly banks do not necessarily close on every public holiday.
In addition, all towns and villages have important annual fiestas and/or ferias that may last several days; perhaps the best known is Las Fallas, which plunges Valencia into a massive celebration for a week in mid-March. It is, therefore, imperative that you consult regional and local calendars as well as the list of national holidays before making travel plans.
Most Spaniards have 30 days of paid vacation per year and usually take their leave in August or around Easter [particularly in Semana Santa (Holy Week)]. You should also avoid scheduling appointments around Christmas.
Spain is one of the least punctual countries in Europe. Although you should always be punctual yourself, you should not be surprised or alarmed if you are kept waiting for some 15-30 minutes. This is neither uncommon nor intentionally rude but you may want to bring work, a book, or some other diversion to fill the time while you wait.
Perhaps the only things that occur on time in Spain are bullfights, football matches and theatrical performances. Certainly trains and buses can have an entirely flexible relationship with the official published timetable. The worst offenders, though, are the state bureaucracy and the former state industries. Procrastination and delay are endemic in sectors such as energy, utilities, telecommunications, construction, and indeed anything that requires official documentation. This survival of the spirit of mañana does not signify indolence or deliberate obstructionism but it does underline the difference between the dynamism of the modern private sector and the unreformed practices of the statist industries, which also infuriate most Spaniards who have a deep distrust of administration.
When you arrive at an appointment, the most appropriate way to announce yourself is to present your business card to the receptionist, who in turn will let your Spanish contact know that you have arrived.
Parties and other social gatherings rarely begin at the advertised time and it is reasonable to inquire about the time you are really expected to arrive, which will probably be 15-30 minutes after the 'official' time.
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