Kirsty Mckenzie
When do the clocks go forward in Spain?
Spring is just around the corner – and we can look forward to longer days soon as we turn the clocks forward by one hour during the night tonight (Saturday).
We will have to put our clocks forward by one hour as we welcome daylight savings time on March 28 – but it could well be the last time the clocks ‘spring’ forward in Spain.
While many welcome the lighter evenings, some politicians believe that we no longer need to follow the strange light-seeking ritual.
In 2018, the President of the EU Commission announced his plan to abolish the changing of the clocks after an online survey showed that Europeans are in favour of staying permanently on “summer time”.
His proposal came after a public consultation revealed more than 80% of the 4.6 million citizens who participated in a survey were in favour of ending the hour change.
Jean-Claude Juncker said he to get rid of the seasonal changing of the clocks, but the year the measure was postponed until 2021 to allow all the national government time to decide which time-zone they want to stick in.
So far we’ve heard no official word on what will happening going forward – but if Jean-Claude Juncker’s wishes are honours this will be the last time we turn the clocks forward and October 2021 will be the final time the clocks turn back.
But why do we do this?
Current convention has it that all of Europe changes its clocks back one hour during the night of the last Saturday in October and forward again on the last weekend of March.
The moving of the clocks was invented by George Vincent Hudson, a New Zealand entomologist in 1895, and was first introduced by Germany and Austria during World War 1 to save coal usage.
The UK and Spain soon followed suit and the measure became widespread use across the world during the 1970s because of the energy crisis but it is now considered by many as obsolete and the energy saved is so low.
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