THE NEW YORK TIMES:
There are signs that Spaniards are eating earlier in the evening. Experts say it could make for a healthier country, but not everyone is ready to part with the custom.
This screenshot has been taken from this NYT article. | Eating late is woven into Spain’s national identity, but there are signs that is changing. Credit: Emilio Parra Doiztua for The New York Times
For generations, dinnertime for the Terrazas family, as in many households in Spain, was late. It usually began after 10 p.m. and often stretched past midnight.
But now, Antonio Terrazas, a tax adviser in Madrid, says his family sits down to eat around 9 p.m. When they dine out, they’re also eating earlier, and have noticed their friends are, too.
“At first it was strange. We’d look at each other like, ‘Madre mía, who would believe that we’d be seated at a restaurant and eating at 9 o’clock?” Mr. Terrazas said. “But not anymore.”
In Spain, known for its night-owl energy, a quiet revolution appears to be unfolding in one of its best known cultural institutions: the late-night dinner.
Spaniards have long eaten later than people elsewhere in Europe, a tradition that many see as part of the national identity. By custom, families gather around their dinner tables late at night and restaurants remain filled long past the time when much of the industrialized world has turned in.
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Jonathan Wolfe | Reporting from Madrid and Barcelona | Sunday, August 30, 2026
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