Madrid mulls earlier dinner hours to cater for tourists

The populist politician Isabel Diaz Ayuso wants to draw more visitors to the city by opening restaurants earlier. But locals may not find the change so appetising, writes Graham Keeley

- Graham Keeley

Hungry British tourists can often arrive at Spanish restaurants in the early evening only to find the kitchen is closed.

Forced to survive on tapas until the restaurant finally opens, holidaymakers can struggle to adapt to Spain’s famously late eating habits. Dinner often only starts at around 10pm and can go on until the early hours at least. The thought of tucking into an evening meal at Anglo-Saxon hours seems unthinkable to most Spaniards.

At lunchtime, things are no better. Most Spaniards settle down for a long relaxing almuerzo (lunch) from 2pm to 4pm. If brandy comes out, this can last even longer. However, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the populist conservative Madrid regional leader who has been tipped to one day become Spain’s first female prime minister, has proposed the unthinkable: opening restaurants earlier to suit the tourists.

Once considered a backwater compared to slick Barcelona or the pleasures of the Costas, Madrid’s tourism industry is now booming after the city promoted luxury hotels which drew foreign holidaymakers. This year, international tourists are expected to bring the Spanish capital €16bn (£13.4bn) in income, compared with €13bn last year.

Keen to capitalise on this growing and lucrative market, Ayuso is not averse to persuading restaurateurs to change culinary customs forged after the civil war. In 1940, the dictator General Francisco Franco moved the clocks forward so fascist Spain was aligned with Nazi Germany. It meant lunch started at 2pm instead of 1pm as before.