Spanish Nightlife: Baile Baile!

To all those American parents out there: have you ever had a row with your child because they stayed out too late at night? 
To all those young-life Americans out there: do your parents worry if you miss a midnight or 2PM curfew?


The likely Spanish response to an affirmative answer to any of these questions is "Que? En serio?" 
When we were in Barcelona, we met this really nice receptionist at our hotel. We had a great conversation about nightlife in Barcelona. She loves her job and works ten-hour shifts 5 days a week, and often goes clubbing or partying after. This is her schedule for her job and nightlife:


2:00PM-12 work at the hotel
12 go home to change
2:00AM go out to a club with her friends
5-6:30AM finish clubbing and go home. 6:30 if she's not working the next day, 5 if she is.
2:00PM the next day--go to work. 


This receptionist is not some sort of "loose" person--she is, in fact, dedicated to her job and even moved herself to England for eight months to work in a shop to learn English. Plus, she's super nice. She told us she doesn't drink if she has work the next day, so that at worst she'll only be tired--not hung over, too. 
To me this just seems amazing!
Of course, everything in Spain is later than in the US and most parts of the world; we ate dinner usually around 9 PM, had lunch at 2 or 3, and got up between 8 and 9-10. Personally, I'd never be able to function if I partied all night from 2-6 and had work the next morning, but it's normal in Spain, especially during the summers. 
The receptionist, who is from Madrid, told us that as a teen living in her parents' house, her curfew was 7AM (!), and her dad would call her at that time, worried if she wasn't yet home. Wow. But she said she was very responsible and didn't give him anything to worry about. Maybe there's something to it: give your children more freedom and they learn how to deal with it? Maybe. 
Either way, the Spanish love their nightlife!! And if you're ever going to Spain, make sure you're ready to dance! You'd better get on the late-night schedule, though, because most night clubs are empty until 2AM. Still--don't be fooled! Spain in tons of fun in the day, too! So much to do. Basically, you're guaranteed to have fun all day and all night. 


The last day of our stay in Barcelona and Europe, we had to get up at 5 in the morning for our flight to Heathrow. The driver took us through the city, but it wasn't empty! There were hundreds of people flocking around, in skirts and shorts and sandals and night clothes, talking and laughing and walking around; they were just leaving the night clubs!