Spain is the party country. Although, amazingly, there are not that many more public holidays in Spain than in the UK, what is so disruptive is:
Typical Spanish Fiesta Participents
a) Different regions and towns have different holidays so you never quite know when Marbella is feasting its local saint (or patrona).
b) The Puente. A puente is a bridge. If a public holiday is on a Tuesday or Thursday, a huge number of people in Spain take the Monday or Friday as leave (or sick-leave). If the public holiday is on a Wednesday it becomes a “Puente largo” or Long bridge and results in two days one one side or another being taken off work.
The result is to put Spain on slow boil while the holiday (and subsequent hangover day) is taken away from the normal working week. This means that someone who was going to send something urgent last Friday but didn’t quite make it will now have to wait until next Wednesday when they are next in the office.
It is not FedEx that take the Puente, they work a normal schedule, but the other inefficient couriers who have franchise systems and, to be fair, the customers themselves. I am thrilled to say that no Citibox office took a puente!
With FedEx Economy that makes a whole week difference in arrival date (because FedEx parcels travel over the weekend).
