The mayor of a tiny Spanish town takes the country’s traditional midday nap time so seriously that he’s ensconced it in law. Nap time is legal in Ador, Spain, thanks to the enterprising efforts of one Joan Faus Vitoria, who was quick to point out that the afternoon siesta, though permissable by law, is “merely a suggestion,” and not an “obligation.”
“” “Everything closes between two and and five PM,” the mayor’s spokesman said of Ador. “Bars, shops, the swimming pool, everything.”
The spokesman added a helpful guideline: “Children should stay indoors between two PM and five PM so that they do not go outside and play with balls and disturb older people.”
According to the mayor’s office, the legality of nap time was something of a formality, since so many people built it into their daily routines: “Many people here work in the countryside, so it’s very usual to take a long lunch break and have a siesta after eating.”
Nonetheless, it’s believed that Ador is the first municipality in Spain to make an actual law allowing the traditional midday nap. Proponents of the action point to the health benefits of midday nap time, and the Endocrine Society recently published findings that suggest a single 30-minute nap “can reverse the hormonal impact of a night of poor sleep.”
On a related note: the midday temperature in Ador today is a nap-worthy 98 degrees Fahrenheit.
