Spain time now, live flip clock
Mainland Spain keeps Central European Time, CET, UTC+1, in winter and CEST, UTC+2, in summer. The Canary Islands run one hour behind. The clock above shows mainland Spain's time live, with seconds.
Time zones in Spain
Spanish law names two official times. One covers the peninsula and the Balearic Islands, the other the Canary Islands. Ceuta and Melilla, on the North African coast, keep the peninsula's clock. The time zone database lists them under a zone of their own, named for Ceuta.
| Time zone | Standard time | Daylight saving time |
|---|---|---|
| Canary IslandsLas Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, La Laguna, Telde | WET, UTC+0 | WEST, UTC+1 |
| Peninsula, Balearics, Ceuta and MelillaMadrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Zaragoza | CET, UTC+1 | CEST, UTC+2 |
Current time in major Spanish cities
Eight of these cities keep mainland time, and so do Ceuta and Melilla. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife show the islands' hour. Pick any city to move the main clock there.
When the clocks change in Spain
Clocks change twice a year everywhere in Spain.
| Time zone | Clock changes |
|---|---|
| Western European Time |
|
| Central European Time |
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How many hours ahead or behind Madrid
On 7 October 2026, London is 1 hour behind Madrid.
| City | Difference from Madrid |
|---|---|
| London | 1 hour behind |
| New York | 6 hours behind |
| Lisbon | 1 hour behind |
| Berlin | Same time |
| Mexico City | 8 hours behind |
| Bogota | 7 hours behind |
| Buenos Aires | 5 hours behind |
| Los Angeles | 9 hours behind |
| Your time zone | Detected after this page loads |
How Spain sets its clocks
- The Canary Islands, an hour behind
- 1 h
- The Canaries keep WET, UTC+0 in winter and WEST, UTC+1 in summer. A royal decree of the twenties first set the islands an hour behind the peninsula. Before it, different islands and services kept different hours. Island clocks change in the same instant as Madrid's. So the one-hour gap holds through the year.
- Central European time, west of Greenwich
- CET
- Most of Spain lies in the time zone centred on Greenwich. Galicia and the Canaries lie in the zone to its west. Madrid's own mean time ran about a quarter of an hour behind Greenwich. Spain kept Greenwich-based time from the start of the twentieth century. During the Second World War, an order put the clocks forward one hour. It aimed to keep Spain in step with France and other European countries. The change was meant to be temporary, and it stayed. The National Geographic Institute says western Galicia's summer gap between sun and clock time is Europe's widest.
- Who keeps Spain's legal time
- ROA
- The Constitution gives the State exclusive power to set the official time. A royal decree makes the time standard of the Navy's observatory, ROA, the national standard. The coordinated universal time scale its laboratory keeps is the basis of legal time across Spain. The laboratory works as an associate of the Spanish Centre for Metrology.
- A short Sunday and a long one
- 23 h
- A royal decree writes the EU summer-time directive into Spanish law. It sets the start on the last Sunday in March and the end on the last Sunday in October. The decree says the spring Sunday lasts twenty-three hours. The autumn one lasts twenty-five. An EU plan to stop the seasonal change passed the European Parliament. It still waits for the Council's position.
Questions about time in Spain
What time zone is Spain in?
Spain keeps two official times. The peninsula, the Balearics, Ceuta and Melilla keep Central European Time. That is CET, UTC+1 in winter and CEST, UTC+2 in summer. The Canary Islands keep WET, UTC+0 in winter and WEST, UTC+1 in summer. Both parts change their clocks on the same EU dates.
Do the Canary Islands have a different time from mainland Spain?
Yes, the Canary Islands run one hour behind mainland Spain in every season. Their clocks match Lisbon and London all year. Both parts of Spain switch to summer time in the same instant. So a Las Palmas clock always reads one hour less than a Madrid clock.
When do the clocks change in Spain?
Spain puts its clocks forward one hour on the last Sunday in March. It turns them back one hour on the last Sunday in October. These are the EU's common dates, written into Spanish law by royal decree. The Canaries change at the same moment as the mainland. This page lists the next two changes.
What is the time difference between Spain and the UK?
London is 1 hour behind Madrid in winter and in summer. Spain and Britain move their clocks on the same nights, so the gap stays put. The Canary Islands keep exactly London's time. A meeting set for Madrid's morning opens an hour earlier on a London clock.
What is the time difference between Spain and the US?
New York is 6 hours behind Madrid for most of the year. The gap drops by one hour for two or three weeks in March. It drops again for the week after Spain's October change. American clocks change on different Sundays from Spain's. Los Angeles sits three hours behind New York.
What is the time difference between Spain and Latin America?
Mexico City is 7 hours behind Madrid in winter. Bogotá is 6 hours behind Madrid in winter. Buenos Aires is 4 hours behind Madrid in winter. Mexico, Colombia and Argentina keep one offset all year. So each gap grows by one hour while Spain is on summer time.
Time zone names for developers
| IANA zone | Standard time | Daylight saving time |
|---|---|---|
| Atlantic/Canary | WET, UTC+0 | Yes |
| Africa/Ceuta | CET, UTC+1 | Yes |
| Europe/Madrid | CET, UTC+1 | Yes |
Sources
We checked each fact on this page against these sources on 7 October 2026. Times, offsets and clock changes come from the time zone database.