This Sunday, October 26, clocks in the Canary Islands will be moved back one hour to mark the beginning of winter time. Experts and citizens question the measure, which, after decades of implementation, generates little energy savings and disrupts well-being and sleep.
The traditional change to winter time will take place in the early hours of Sunday, October 26, 2025, when it will become 1:00 a.m. at 2:00 a.m. in the Canary Islands, maintaining the usual one-hour difference with the Spanish mainland. The measure, implemented more than four decades ago with the aim of optimizing energy consumption, has lost ground in recent years due to changes in consumer habits and the widespread use of low-energy technologies.
Several European studies have questioned the real effectiveness of daylight saving time. According to the data, the impact on energy savings is minimal, while the effects on health are more noticeable. Sleep disturbances, fatigue, irritability, and disruptions to the biological clock are some of the consequences that are particularly common in children and the elderly, affecting performance and general well-being during the first few days after the change.
In the Canary Islands, where sunlight and temperature remain stable for much of the year, the debate takes on particular relevance. Every year, public and scientific opinion grows in favor of eliminating daylight savings time and maintaining a fixed time, adapted to the archipelago's natural conditions. Meanwhile, this Sunday, Canarians will set their clocks back once again, adapting once again to a measure that many consider obsolete.
