Spain
What time do Spaniards eat? Meal times, siesta and how not to eat alone
Short answer
Spaniards eat lunch between 14:00 and 16:00 and dinner between 21:00 and 23:00. Lunch is the main meal. Most kitchens close between roughly 16:30 and 20:00, so if you are hungry at 18:00 you will find only bars with tapas and tourist restaurants. Breakfast is small (coffee and a tostada), and there is a mid-morning snack at 11:00 and often a merienda at 18:00 to bridge the gaps.
A Spanish eating day
- 08:00-10:00 Breakfast: coffee with milk and a tostada (toast with olive oil and tomato) or a pastry. Small and quick, often standing at a bar.
- 11:00-12:00 Almuerzo or second breakfast: a coffee and something small. Offices empty for twenty minutes.
- 13:00-14:00 Vermouth hour, especially at weekends: a vermú or a caña with a tapa before lunch.
- 14:00-16:00 Lunch, the main meal. The menú del día (three courses, bread, drink, fixed price) is served now and only now.
- 18:00-19:00 Merienda: coffee or a snack, children's dinner time.
- 21:00-23:00 Dinner, lighter than lunch. Restaurants fill up at 21:30 on weekdays and 22:00 at weekends.
The gap that catches every visitor
Between about 16:30 and 20:00 most restaurant kitchens are closed. Bars stay open and will serve a tapa, a sandwich or a tortilla, and tourist restaurants advertise all-day kitchen, which is precisely the sign of a tourist restaurant. The fix is simple: eat a proper lunch at 14:00-15:00, have something small at 18:00 if you need it, and hold out for a 21:00 dinner. Your body adjusts in two days and you get the city at its best: full terraces, noise, everyone out.
What the siesta actually is
Very few Spaniards in cities sleep after lunch on a working day. What survives is the long lunch break and, in smaller towns and in summer, shops closing from about 14:00 to 17:00. In Madrid and Barcelona big shops and supermarkets stay open all day; small family shops may close. Museums and sights do not close for siesta, although some smaller ones in towns do. The real siesta lives on in August, at the beach, and on Sundays.
Practical consequences for a tourist
- A restaurant that is packed at 19:30 is packed with tourists. Do not judge a place by an empty room at 20:30.
- Book popular places for 21:30 or 22:00, not 19:00; most do not even open for dinner before 20:30.
- Lunch is the time to eat well cheaply: the menú del día often costs less than a main course at night.
- Nightlife starts after dinner. Bars fill at 23:00-00:00 and clubs not before 1:30-2:00.
- Sunday evening many kitchens close entirely; plan a late lunch instead.
Quick questions
Can I have dinner at 19:00 in Spain?
Only in tourist restaurants and some international chains. Most Spanish kitchens open for dinner at 20:30 or 21:00. If you are hungry early, have a tapa at a bar and eat properly later.
Is the menú del día only at lunch?
Yes, almost always Monday to Friday at lunch, sometimes weekends. It is the fixed-price three-course meal that working Spaniards eat, and the best value you will find.
Do shops close for siesta in Madrid?
Large shops, department stores and supermarkets in the centre do not. Some small independent shops close from about 14:00 to 17:00, more so outside the big cities and in summer.