Before coming to Torrevieja, I’d heard about “Spanish Time,” but I didn’t appreciate the full sense of the thing until I had to mail a simple letter. Sure, you could call it inefficiency, but the Spanish like to think of it as patience. I suppose it’s not for me, an American, to decide.
Meantime, here’s a rough translation of some common time measurements.
“Tomorrow” = In a few days.
“In a few days” = More like a week, maybe even a week and a half; let me check with my supervisor tomorrow (see “tomorrow”).
“1 week” = 2 weeks.
“1 month” = It might get lost. Better aim for 1 week (see “1 week”).
“I’ve got a tight deadline” = This isn’t going to get done before siesta, so you might as well siesta and come back.
…
Bless ’em.
OLIVIA COLLETTE 