Sir, – Regarding Hendy Joyce’s suggestion (Letters, April 1st) that summer time augments the hours of daylight (refuted the day before by Kevin Devitte) and the suggestion that Ireland might change to be on a par with Spain and other European countries, he might be surprised to know that there is a movement to return Spain to GMT, the time zone the country geographically falls under and from which it switched during the early days of the Franco dictatorship as a sign of subservience to Hitler’s Germany.
This return is being urged as part of a return to a more Anglo-Saxon timetable, which would help Spaniards get sufficient sleep (they sleep an hour less than most Europeans) and eliminate the huge lunch gap in the middle of the day (few have the luxury of working close enough to home for a siesta). Opposition is coming from the Canary Islands, already on GMT, because it might eliminate the mention they get on the radio every hour. It seems the grass is always greener on the other side of the time zone. Yours, etc,
DAVID O’BRIEN,
Calle Dormitaleria,
Pamplona,
Spain