¡Siesta Por Favor!

As modern life in Spain becomes more demanding, an increasing number of citizens are giving up a key ritual of the Spanish culture: the siesta. In order to combat this change and promote its revered nap time, Spain recently held a Siesta Competition, the first one of its kind. The competition, held in a mall in Madrid's Carabanchel District, promised a top prize of 1,000 euros. Participants, placed into groups of five, were given twenty minutes of sleep opportunity to be spent on plush blue couches set up for the event.  A doctor was on the premises, armed with a device that measured the pulse of those in the event, to determine how much of the twenty minutes were actually spent in sleep. The goal was to spend the entire twenty minutes asleep, but extra points could be scored in the competition for snoring, snoozing in silly positions, or wearing ridiculous pajamas while taking part in the event. Dr. Lili Chuecas, in charge of measuring sleep times, says that a cause of the siesta decline is that fewer Spanish citizens are taking lunch breaks, and that, "people do not appreciate the value of rest." While a number of the competitors caught stage fright and found it was difficult to sleep in front of onlookers, Fermin Lominchar was declared the winner after successfully sleeping eighteen out of the twenty minutes of allotted sleep time. The prize for best fashion statement went to Carmen Lopez Valdeon, who wore pink pajamas with violet daisies paired with fuzzy green socks. The newly established group "National Association of Friends of the Siesta" funded this competition, in the hopes that Spaniards could rediscover the fun and relaxation in an afternoon siesta.

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