ABSTRACT
One of the most quoted slogans during the authoritarian dictatorship to describe the then existing gap between Spain and most other west European countries was España es diferente (Spain is different) (Carr, 1999: 721). Throughout the past three decades the development of democracy and the narrowing of the cultural gap has made Spain similar to other west European democracies. Although the Spanish GDP per capita is still 80 per cent of the EU average, Spain changed qualitatively in the past two and a half decades, contradicting verymuch the slogan of the authoritarian regime. Nevertheless, whenever tourists come to Spain they realise that Spain is quite different from the rest of Europe. This is not related to economic development or the quality of democracy, but the way Spanish people live and think. Indeed, Spanish people did not converge in terms of the way they organise their daily life. The routine of Spanish life, that is predominantly that of the centre and in the south, is still characterised by late lunches (1.30-2pm) and late dinners (9-10pm). On hot summer days, there is almost no activity between 2 and 5pm. This different daily routine shows that Spain still retains many features of its inherited way of life. This rather superficial observation can be substantiated by other observations which led to the establishment of a vibrant peaceful democracy.
