Timetable reform campaign argues for sticking to winter hours all year round

With the clocks soon due to go back an hour as winter approaches, the campaign to reform timetables in Catalonia -Reforma Horària- has passed a report to the government arguing for daylight saving time to be abolished.

With the EU also looking into scrapping seasonal time changes, the experts commissioned to come up with the Reforma Horària report also argue for keeping winter hours all year round.

The report recommends keeping winter hours because in summer it doesn't get light until 9.15am. "More light in the evening and less in the morning can cause disruption to sleep," warns the government, in response to the report.

Berlin time or London time?

The report also tackles the issue of which time zone should be adopted: whether to keep the same time as Berlin, or return to that of London. Since the 1940s, Spain has been in-line with German time after the Franco regime changed it to match that of its Nazi allies.

However, the experts warn that the consequences of changing time zone are "unpredictable" and they argue for an "evaluation of the impact" of moving to the same time zone as Britain, Ireland, and Portugal.

Potential health risks

The report also warns that the change in hour every six months is added to the difference between the official time and the solar time, a "distortion" leading to more daylight hours in the evening from spring that can cause "harmful effects for the health, such as disruption to sleep, tiredness and more risk of cardiovascular incidents."

Moreover, it argues that more work needs to be done to "confirm the economic benefits that could come from any energy savings due to the change in hour, or that could outweigh the social and health costs," says the government.