Having lunch at 3pm on Sundays, or having dinner at almost 10pm at night may sound a bit shocking for most of the tourists visiting Barcelona. Mealtimes in Spain are pretty different from the meal schedule set up in the United States.
While exploring some restaurants where to have lunch or dinner, you might have trouble finding a good Spanish restaurant which serves dinner at 6 am. By that time, you will probably see people eating a piece of fruit, a donut, a sandwich… What we usually call “merienda”, the meal between lunch and dinner. You might find it tricky to adapt to what seems a “crazy” Spanish eating schedule during the first weeks in Barcelona. But you will get used to it ;-)
To help you out to understand better this part of our culture (and help you to book a table at dinner time or lunch time in Barcelona), here you have an orientative Spanish eating schedule:
Breakfast schedule in Spain
From 8 to 10.30. Breakfast consists of a cup of coffee or juice, accompanied with plain biscuits or muffins. It is a light meal, pretty different from breakfasts in the United States. If you would like some coffee to start of the day, these are the options you will find in Barcelona:
- Café solo: A shot of espresso.
- Cortado: A shot of espresso with a splash of milk.
- Café con leche: A shot of espresso and milk, in an equal proportion.
- Americano: A shot of espresso with a lot of water.
Breakfast is definitely not the main meal in Spain, as you will notice while having breakfast in a coffee shop in Barcelona. But if you want to have a typical breakfast you might want to keep reading:
“Media mañana”
From 11 to 12.30. Before having lunch, you might decide on having a little snack which can include a piece of fruit or a small sandwich.
Lunchtime schedule in Spain
From 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm. This is the main meal of the day, instead of dinner as it is in the U.S. You will find restaurants which offer a “menu deal” which includes one appetizer and one main course, and usually it also includes bread, a drink and dessert. (Knowing when is lunch time in Barcelona might help you to organize your day).
“Merienda” or snack
This meal might include a piece of fruit, a sandwich, a croissant, etc. taken around 5 or 6.
Dinner schedule in Spain
From 9 to 10.30 pm. Dinner is not as big as lunch, it doesn’t include 3 courses. It consists of a light dish, before going to bed. Dinner time is the most shocking part of the Spanish eating schedule to everyone visiting Barcelona from countries like England or the US, where they usually have dinner around 6.30. Dinner time in Barcelona is actually a little later than that…
So mealtimes in Spain are different compared to the ones set up in the United States. All meals are skewed a few hours later than in the United States, and lunch time in Barcelona is different from lunch time in Montana. Even though it might be pretty shocking at first, you will soon get used to it ;-)
If you want to keep exploring other cultural differences, for example, when going out for lunch or dinner in Barcelona, you can’t miss the article Tipping in Barcelona.