Spanish siesta shortened

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SEVILLE, Spain -- Government employees, who make up 25 percent of the work force in Spain, are waking up to a sleepless reality for 2006 -- a ban on the traditional afternoon siesta.

Jordi Sevilla, minister for public administration, said the plan will improve family relationships and end the "chaotic hours" worked by state employees.

The new work schedule applies only to Spain's 2.4 million public administrators, but Mr. Sevilla said the idea is for those workers to set "an example for other sectors and institutions."

The lunch break will be slashed to one hour, from noon until 1 p.m., "like the rest of Europe."

"This will allow our employees to do the same amount of work in less time," Mr. Sevilla said.

At present bureaucrats work 371/2 hours a week, leaving work early -- at 3 p.m. -- three days a week, but returning after their siestas on two days.

The minister's radical approach is backed by business lobby groups like the Circulo de Empresarios.

Its president, Claudio Boada, said long lunches were costing the economy dearly -- as much as 8 percent of gross domestic product.

The 371/2-hour week is considered long by Western European standards for public employees.

Yet Spanish bureaucrats appear to be among the least productive, perhaps because they suffer from post-siesta lethargy after returning to work.