The daylight saving time change in Spain will take place in the early hours of Sunday 29 March 2026. At 02:00, clocks in the mainland and the Balearics will be set forward an hour to 03:00, while in the Canary Islands the shift will occur at 01:00, advancing to 02:00. This biannual adjustment means residents will lose 60 minutes of sleep but gain extended daylight during evening hours.
This shift into summer time will remain effective until Sunday 25 October 2026, when Spain returns to standard time. This transition coincides with the start of spring in the northern hemisphere on 20 March. On the day of the change, the official time will count only 23 hours instead of the usual 24, delaying sunrise and sunset to maximise natural light in the late afternoon, potentially contributing to energy savings in the warmer months.
This upcoming adjustment may be among the last seasonal clock changes in Spain and across Europe. The current schedule is set by order PCM/186/2022, dated 11 March, covering daylight saving periods from 2022 through 2026. However, Spain’s proposal to permanently eliminate these twice-yearly clock changes has yet to reach a binding agreement within the European institutions.
Legal framework governing time changes in Spain
The present system stems from Royal Decree 236/2002 of 1 March, which incorporated European Directive 2000/84/EC from 19 January 2001 into Spanish law. This directive standardises daylight saving time across all EU member states, ensuring simultaneous clock changes throughout the EU. Its main aim is to harmonise schedules to ease trade, communications and transport across borders, while promoting energy savings through better use of natural daylight. According to the directive, clocks must go forward on the last Sunday of March and revert on the last Sunday of October each year.
In 2018, the European Commission held a public consultation involving 4.6 million respondents, where 84% supported ending clock changes twice a year. The Commission then proposed to discontinue this practice from 2021 onwards, allowing member states to choose either permanent summer or winter time. Nevertheless, Spain’s plan to end daylight saving time has encountered setbacks, primarily due to a lack of consensus among EU countries on which permanent time to adopt. Concerns persist regarding possible difficulties if neighbouring countries opt for different time zones, which could disrupt commerce and cross-border coordination. Notably, Spain is geographically aligned with Greenwich Mean Time but has maintained Central European Time since 1940.
Effects of time changes on health and society
Scientific studies have investigated the health impacts of switching clocks. The disturbance to circadian rhythms has been linked to sleep difficulties, increased cardiovascular risks, mood fluctuations, and temporary declines in work and academic performance. Vulnerable groups include children, older adults, and those with chronic conditions. Additionally, the actual energy savings from daylight saving time remain debated. While it was originally introduced to reduce energy consumption, contemporary analyses cast doubt on its effectiveness, given modern consumption patterns dominated by widespread use of air conditioning, heating, and electronic devices.
The concept of daylight saving time dates back to Benjamin Franklin’s 1784 proposal aimed at saving resources, but it wasn’t widely implemented until the First World War, when several European countries adopted it to curb coal usage. After various intermittent changes, the European Union standardised the practice in 2001 through its directive, which currently governs time changes in Spain and other member states.
The next clock change in Spain will be on Sunday 25 October 2026. Then, at 03:00, clocks on the mainland and Balearics will go back one hour to 02:00, while in the Canary Islands the shift happens at 02:00 reverting to 01:00. This will allow people to "gain" one hour of sleep, with the day officially lasting 25 hours instead of the usual 24.