The controversial time change returns on Sunday with daylight saving time: at 02:00 it will be 03:00 hours
The time change, questioned by experts and European institutions, will cause the loss of an hour of sleep and lengthen the daylight hours in the afternoon
PalmDaylight saving time will come into effect on Saturday night into Sunday, when at 02:00 AM clocks will be moved forward to 03:00 AM. It is a practice that is increasingly questioned, but which will remain in force for at least until 2031 after the European Commission has automatically renewed the calendar.
According to a communication published on March 18 in the Official Journal of the European Union, the time change will be maintained for the next five years, always with the last Sunday in March as the reference for the start of daylight saving time. Even so, this decision does not close the debate: a possible community agreement could modify or eliminate this practice at any time.
The origin of the time change dates back to the oil crisis of the seventies, with the aim of saving energy by making better use of daylight hours. Today, however, this argument is increasingly debated. Various entities, such as Time Use Initiative or the International Natural Time Alliance, are promoting initiatives to end the seasonal change, which they consider harmful to health and well-being.
The European Parliament already spoke out in 2019 in favor of eliminating it, but the lack of consensus among member states has so far prevented taking the definitive step. The European Commission, in any case, does not rule out resuming the debate and plans to present a new report on this issue during this year. In Spain, the government has shown itself to be in favor of ending the time change. Both the president, Pedro Sánchez, and the vice president, Teresa Ribera, have questioned its usefulness, arguing that it no longer entails significant energy savings and that it disrupts biological rhythms. While the debate remains open, citizens from Sunday onwards will experience that the day will be longer.
The sun will rise and set later, which means that on Saturday night, people will sleep one hour less. The new time will be maintained until October 25. Experts warn that this change can cause fatigue and difficulties in concentration, especially in children and the elderly, and recommend progressively adapting sleep and meal schedules in the days prior. They also remind that most connected devices will update the time automatically, while analog clocks or appliances will need to be adjusted manually.