Sign of the Times

It's no secret that Spanish time is slower than English time, or German time, or Danish time, or any of the time schedules adhered to by the mass of immigrants in this area. We recently had an appointment at 9:00 AM with a German contractor for the installation of heating panels. Since he was German we expected him at 9:00 on the dot, or possibly even 8:59. What we hadn't realized was that the installation itself would be carried out by a Spanish colleague. The installer came at 9:30.

Formal governing meetings in Spain, such as those of the apartment building association where we used to live, routinely are set for, say, 6:00 for the "first convocatorio" and 6:30 for the second. That means that if a quorum does not present itself by 6:00, the meeting does not take place, but at 6:30 the second convocatorio can take place without a quorum. A quorum almost always shows up anyway--but only at 6:30, never at 6:00.

If you are invited to a Spanish home for dinner at 7:30 PM, you run the risk of finding your host still in the swimming pool should you actually arrive at 7:30. Indeed, a former Spanish teacher once told me that the only time you would show up for dinner at the appointed time would be if you were having paella, which has a lengthy but precise preparation period, and it would be discourteous to be late.

A more recent Spanish teacher tells our class frequently that all Spaniards now realize that "English time" is much earlier than Spanish time--but she hasn't said that Spaniards actually recognize a stated English time as being the proper time to arrive for an appointment.

Therefore it was amusing, but not a surprise, to find the following sign in the local English optical shop this week:

Se ruega que llegue 15 minutos antes de la hora de su cita.

[Literal translation: It is requested that you arrive 15 minutes prior to the time of your scheduled appointment.]

 And immediately below it was the official English translation:

Kindly arrive at the appointed hour for your appointment.