“There’s nothing more Spanish than arriving 20 minutes late and for nobody to have arrived yet”, is a stereotype many people (including Spaniards) would agree is true.
Of course being late doesn’t apply to everyone in Spain, but most of us living here have those friends we know will be late every single time without fail.
Equally, we know which events won’t begin on time in Spain and when we’ll often spend a lot of time waiting around.
It’s so culturally accepted to be kept waiting here that there are even many comical videos doing the rounds on social media with a Spaniards’ translation for phrases like “I’m on my way” really meaning ‘I haven’t left the house yet’ or “I’m nearly there” meaning ‘I’m just heading out the door now’.
“They don’t have friends, they have warm-up acts,” conclude Spanish satire duo Pantomina Full, proving that some Spaniards do find a lack of punctuality to be disrespectful and selfish.
According to a survey conducted by Wave Application — a geolocation-based app that makes it easier to meet people, 64 percent of Spaniards admit to always being between five and 15 minutes late to a meeting or appointment.
A total of 67 percent of respondents say that friends are the ones who have to wait the longest, followed by partners (22 percent) and work meetings (11 percent).
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It’s almost expected here that people will be late in Spain. For example, if you’re attending a party, it’s very rare that anyone will show up on time. If you do, you’ll probably be the only one there. Maybe the host won’t have even turned up yet either!
READ ALSO: Debunking the myth – How true are Spanish stereotypes?
In fact, if you’re hosting the party and you want people to turn up at a certain time, it’s best to give a time at least 30 minutes before you actually want people to arrive.
It’s more common, however, for groups of friends to meet up outdoors to go to a bar together, but of course in this situation many will arrive late too.
In case you’re wondering how much time it’s acceptable to be late in Spain if you’re meeting with a friend, 15 minutes is probably the cut-off for not having to forewarn then with a slightly apologetic message.
No matter which country you live in, we all know someone who is perpetually late, but here it not so much a personality trait as something that is ingrained into the local culture.
Whether it’s an event at a local festival, a handyperson come to fix your sink or even an appointment, it will inevitably be late. Because so many events don’t start on time here and people expect it. They don’t bother turning up on time because they know it won’t have started yet.
As one Reddit user put it: “There’s nothing more Spanish than arriving 20 minutes late and for nobody to have arrived yet”.
Of course there are exceptions, and this doesn’t mean Spaniards will be late in every situation.
READ ALSO: What are the big regional stereotypes across Spain?
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The survey shows that 92 percent would never consider being late to a meeting or job interview. Eight out of 10 people also say they are punctual arriving at work in the mornings too.
Recently, however, even the Spanish Supreme Court took being late to work into consideration.
The new rule states that if you arrive late for any reason, as long as you are no more than 15 minutes later than your official start time, you will be considered to have started work at that time. These minutes cannot be deducted and you cannot be penalised.
This would be unheard of in the UK for example, and you would definitely have repercussions if you were 15 minutes late every morning.
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Other situations in which Spaniards said wouldn’t consider being late to in the survey include weddings (39 percent), dates (36 percent), or doctor visits (36 percent).
Of course, if you’re late in certain situations, you might miss out.
For example, trains are typically very punctual in Spain, so if you’re running late for one, you’ll more than likely miss it.
If you’re late for a doctor’s appointment and you miss it, then you may have to schedule it for another day instead.
While being late here is generally the norm though, there are some countries that run on an even later schedule than Spain when it comes to work-related tasks, according to a study by INSEAD. These include Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, India, Kenya, China, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, and Russia.
As for the most punctual, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic and Poland occupied the best timekeeping spots.
Why Spaniards are generally on the wrong side of punctuality is a bit of an unknown, but it no doubt has plenty to do with the country’s more laidback, fun-loving nature. Tardiness is also a problem in Italy, as our team at The Local Italy has pointed out before.
A study by the University of Washington determined that the problem with latecomers “is their time management mechanism operates at a different speed”.
“If a person has a very fast internal time, they tend to overestimate time, and if it’s slow, they tend to underestimate it,” psychologist Consuelo Tomás told La Sexta TV.
That’s enough from us for now – ¡Llegamos tarde a una reunión! (We’re late to a meeting!)
