The siesta is the latest victim of the sovereign debt crisis in Spain, according to news service Bloomberg. The threat comes from changes in the laws governing opening hours of shops and businesses to allow them to open for more hours during the day and more often on Sundays and holidays.

The hope is that more businesses will operate during the traditional siesta hours of 14:00 – 16:00 and stimulate consumer spending, which has fallen 23 percent since the beginning of the crisis.

It's the latest battle in the siesta war that has seen pressure from the EU to scrap the tradition and fierce resistance by aficionados de la siesta in Spain.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

(photo source: sxc.hu)