Current time in Madrid, Spain
The current local time in Madrid is shown below. Madrid observes CET in winter and CEST during daylight saving time.
What's the daylight saving status?
When are sunrise & sunset today?
What are the timezone facts?
What's the timezone history of Madrid?
Spain runs on Central European Time despite sitting at longitudes that should place most of the country on Greenwich Mean Time. The change was made by Francisco Franco in 1940 to align with Nazi Germany, and it has not been reversed since the war. The mismatch is most pronounced in western regions like Galicia, where solar noon arrives close to 14:00 in winter, but the offset shapes daily rhythms across the country: late lunches, late dinners, and an evening that runs noticeably later than elsewhere in Europe.
What are the working hours in Madrid?
The Madrid working day reflects the country's late solar rhythm: offices typically open at 09:00 or 10:00, take a long lunch from around 14:00 to 16:00, and run through to 19:00 or 20:00. The traditional siesta has been largely displaced in modern offices by a single midday break, but the late evening finish persists, and dinner before 21:00 is unusual. Recent labour reforms have aimed at compressing the working day toward European norms, but adoption has been uneven.
Where is Madrid?
Madrid sits in the geographic centre of the Iberian Peninsula on a plateau at around 660 metres elevation, the highest capital city in Europe. The municipal population is around 3.3 million, with the wider Comunidad de Madrid metropolitan area reaching close to 7 million. The Manzanares River, although small by capital-city standards, defines the western edge of the historic centre, with the more modern business district of AZCA running along the Paseo de la Castellana to the north.