This British Tourist Went To Spain And Started An Internet War: “they Stop Work To Nap!”

If you’ve ever scrolled done TikTok and thought, wow, foreigners person a very circumstantial thought of Spain, meet Kelly.

She’s a British traveller from Essex who’s conscionable discovered nan Spanish siesta and, let’s put it for illustration this, she’s not impressed.

In a now-viral clip filmed successful Marbella’s Puerto Banus, Kelly looks genuinely baffled arsenic she walks down a sleepy thoroughfare successful nan early afternoon. 

“Spanish group virtually slumber during nan day,” she says to nan camera, her look location betwixt disorder and existential crisis. “They extremity moving astatine 2 PM, spell home, slumber for a fewer hours, and past spell backmost to work. And I conscionable don’t get it.”

“Why slumber successful nan daylight?” debate

The video triggered precisely nan benignant of online chaos you’d expect. Because if there’s 1 point Spaniards won’t fto slide, it’s being told really to unrecorded by a tourer holding an iced latte.

“Why would you slumber during nan time erstwhile you could beryllium surviving your life and chasing your dream?” Kelly asked herself.

She goes connected to explicate that erstwhile she worked agelong hours, she utilized her free clip to build her ain business. So naturally, she can’t understand why Spanish group wouldn’t do nan same. “Why are they conscionable going location and sleeping and not chasing their dreams?” she repeats, shaking her head.

How did nan group react?

To beryllium fair, her logic mightiness make consciousness successful Essex. But successful Andalusia, nether a sun that could melt your will to unrecorded by 2 PM, that nap is fundamentally self-preservation. And locals were speedy to punctual her successful nan comments that what she’s witnessing isn’t a nationalist wide napathon, but conscionable that divided workday still communal successful galore Spanish cities, wherever luncheon breaks agelong long capable for a due repast and immoderate downtime earlier nan 2nd shift.

As 1 commenter named Blanca wrote: “In your free time, you tin do immoderate you want: sleep, shop, publication a book, aliases run.”

Working to live, not surviving to work

Others were little diplomatic. “Literally cipher successful Spain sleeps for 2 hours successful nan mediate of nan day,” 1 personification changeable back, a remark that racked up hundreds of likes. Another wrote, “I’m truthful tired of foreigners reasoning they cognize much astir america than we do.” Another Spaniard, María, summed it up perfectly: “The siesta is simply a luxury, not a lifestyle.”

Still, nan viral video sparked an oddly revealing taste moment. For Brits for illustration Kelly, productivity is practically a civilized code. For galore Spaniards, remainder is conscionable arsenic valuable arsenic work. It’s not laziness, arsenic immoderate foreigners whitethorn think, it’s a rhythm.

A conflict of clocks

Kelly’s “I could never” mindset isn’t unique, it’s portion of a broader Western European activity ethic that often prizes grind complete pause. Meanwhile, Spain has softly perfected nan creation of living: moving to live, not surviving to work. Spain isn’t wasting time, successful fact, it’s protecting it.

And possibly that’s what really bothers immoderate people. The thought that slowing down mightiness really make life richer. 

So adjacent clip you spot a quiet thoroughfare successful nan Spanish afternoon, don’t correction it for laziness. It’s conscionable nan calm betwixt 2 halves of a life well-lived.