For generations, dinnertime for the Terrazas family, as in many households in Spain, was late. It usually began after 10 p.m. and often stretched past midnight.
But now, Antonio Terrazas, a tax adviser in Madrid, says his family sits down to eat around 9 p.m. When they dine out, they’re also eating earlier, and have noticed their friends are, too.
“At first it was strange. We’d look at each other like, ‘Madre mía, who would believe that we’d be seated at a restaurant and eating at 9 o’clock?” Mr. Terrazas said. “But not anymore.”
In Spain, known for its night-owl energy, a quiet revolution appears to be unfolding in one of its best known cultural institutions: the late-night dinner.
Spaniards have long eaten later than people elsewhere in Europe, a tradition that many see as part of the national identity. By custom, families gather around their dinner tables late at night and restaurants remain filled long past the time when much of the industrialized world has turned in.
Spain held fast to the practice even as experts debated whether it was a drag on the economy, producing a work force that was more tired and less productive than it could be.
