Spain Holds First-Ever Siesta Contest

MADRID (AP) - Spaniards are snuggling up with pillows and stuffed animals amid the din of a suburban shopping center in what is being billed as the country's first siesta contest. (Scroll down for photos)

Contestants in groups of five are given 20 minutes lying on garish blue coaches and timed as to how much of that stretch they spend actually snoozing.

The contest is being run by a group called the National Association of Friends of the Siesta. It began Thursday and is to last nine days. The top prize is euro1,000 ($1,410).

The goal is to promote the post-meal nap, a cherished Spanish tradition many says is eroding because of modern fast-paced lifestyles.

PHOTOS:

Comments

[KeepNIt2Real]

01:34 PM on 10/18/2010

Please! My wife would win that hands down! the rookies...

[3echo9]

08:25 AM on 10/18/2010

I’d like to take a nap during the workday too. Somehow I doubt my employer would appreciate it. No wonder Spain is the economic powerhouse that it is.

[ardethbay]

11:36 PM on 10/17/2010

The one event were pot would be a preformance inhancing drug!

[TheRealestRealist]

03:47 AM on 10/18/2010

Indica for me, please.

[Jolimont]

12:07 PM on 10/17/2010

Viva Espana!!! (sorry, no idea how to make the right characters with my US keyboard).

[battleofmarathon]

06:42 AM on 10/17/2010

I would be good at that contest, I can fall asleep anywhere. (Thank you U.S. Navy)

[kexj]

05:00 AM on 10/17/2010

HAHAHA! Looks like the Ikea in Beijing!

[RealSleeper]

08:32 PM on 10/16/2010

We love siestas and naps here in Houston, Texas! Check out this napping movement: http://www.nappingaffectsperformance.blogspot.com

[Blackorpheus]

02:06 PM on 10/16/2010

Let's do it here. We'll put the Tea Party demagogues to sleep.

[life-of-riley]

07:54 AM on 10/16/2010

Having fortunately been able to spend some time in rural Spain, I can see why they are resistant to the loss of their life style and traditions.

[ckinsobe]

12:51 AM on 10/16/2010

Who did the octopus predict would win?

[Blackorpheus]

02:09 PM on 10/16/2010

Let's do it here. We'll put the Tea Party demagogues to sleep

[Christopher Millsap]

06:26 PM on 10/15/2010

I would SO ace that event!

[american-dolt]

01:35 PM on 10/15/2010

Excitement Plus! I want a front row seat!

[BleuSheez]

01:12 PM on 10/15/2010

It's "couches" not "coaches".

[Schweik]

11:35 AM on 10/15/2010

Any Greek civil servant can win the competition without trying.

[raosn]

12:19 PM on 10/15/2010

Bring on any number Greek civil servant and our Indian civil servants can beat them by yards.. So stop bragging.

[Schweik]

12:30 PM on 10/15/2010

Why, do Indian Civil serPENTS take long siestas?

At least they have the excuse that Mumbai summers ( and winters) are much hotter than Madrid.

[grange]

09:03 AM on 10/15/2010

Do not let Capitalism/Big Business crush your traditions Spain.

Countries should be individual.

[Schweik]

11:41 AM on 10/15/2010

Yes, Spain. Don't ever give in to this fake captialist, colonialist, hegemonist, corporatist usurpation of your indolent ways..

Keep the traditions and never, ever change-- Spanish Inquisition, Franco, auto da fe.

NO PASARAN