Spain Switches to Winter Time on October 25, 2026: How the Clock Change Works

Every autumn, Spain moves its clocks back by one hour to switch from summer time to winter time. In 2026, the change takes place during the night of Saturday, October 24 to Sunday, October 25, according to Time Out Madrid.

When exactly do the clocks change?

The switch happens overnight, not during the day. In mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands, clocks go from 3:00 a.m. back to 2:00 a.m. In the Canary Islands, which already run one hour behind the rest of the country, the change happens from 2:00 a.m. back to 1:00 a.m., Time Out Madrid reports.

Because the hour between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. is effectively repeated, Sunday, October 25, 2026 officially has 25 hours instead of the usual 24, giving most people an extra hour of sleep that night.

Why the clocks change at all

The clock change is part of the European Union's seasonal time system, under which member states move to "summer time" in spring and back to "winter time" in autumn. According to Público, the practice was originally justified as a way to save energy by better matching daylight hours to waking hours, but that argument has lost force in recent years as studies have found only marginal energy savings while pointing to disruptions to sleep.

Público also notes that the next change will happen in spring 2027, when clocks move forward again and the cycle repeats, as the EU's current rules remain in force.

Will Spain stop changing the clocks?

The European Commission proposed ending biannual clock changes across the EU back in September 2018, and the European Parliament backed scrapping the practice, but EU member states have never agreed on how to implement it, according to Plataforma Media.

A European Commission spokesperson, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, told Plataforma Media that "a coordinated solution to clock changes is still possible," adding that the Commission has launched a study to support the decision, which is expected to be concluded by the end of 2026. The outlet also reported that the original 2018 public consultation on the issue drew 4.6 million responses, 84% of them in favour of ending the changes, but member states still have not agreed on whether each country should keep permanent summer time or permanent winter time.

Público reports that Spain's government, including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and several ministers, has backed eliminating the seasonal changes, though without specifying which permanent time zone the country should adopt. The article adds that Spain's geography — stretching wide from east to west — creates uneven daylight patterns across regions, complicating that choice.

What stays the same

• The clock change applies to the whole of Spain, including the Canary Islands, each region moving back one hour from its own current time.
• Smartphones, computers and most connected devices adjust automatically; older clocks, car dashboards and some appliances need to be changed manually.
• The next scheduled change is in spring 2027, when clocks move forward again to summer time, unless EU rules change before then.