Spain is stuck with the clock change until 2031

Brussels has locked in every date for the next five years 

The clock change that has just taken place in Spain won’t be the last, as the European Commission has published the dates for the next five years and the clocks will keep going back and forward until at least 2031.

The Commission set the calendar in a communication in the Official Journal of the European Union on March 18. It follows the usual pattern, with summer time starting on the last Sunday of March and winter time returning on the last Sunday of October. The dates are:

• 2027: Sunday March 28 and Sunday October 31
• 2028: Sunday March 26 and Sunday October 29
• 2029: Sunday March 25 and Sunday October 28
• 2030: Sunday March 31 and Sunday October 27
• 2031: Sunday March 30 and Sunday October 26 

In spring, mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands skip from 2am to 3am, while in the Canary Islands 1am becomes 2am. In autumn, the clocks go back from 3am to 2am on the mainland and in the Balearics, and from 2am to 1am in the Canaries.

The fact that the system is staying doesn’t mean the EU has dropped the idea of scrapping it. The Commission proposed ending seasonal clock changes in 2018 and the European Parliament backed the plan in 2019, with the aim of putting it into practice in 2021, but member states haven’t been able to agree how to do it. One sticking point is coordination, as the differences could cause problems for transport, trade and other cross-border activity if each country chose to stay on a different permanent time.

That makes 2031 the last year in the calendar published so far and not a deadline for ending the practice. Spanish rules set the time change with no end date, while the EU publishes the specific dates for later years from time to time.

Image: Magnific