Current Time in Madrid

About time in Madrid

Madrid runs on Central European Time even though Spain sits at roughly the same longitude as the United Kingdom and Portugal, which use GMT. The country aligned with CET in the 1940s, and the geographic mismatch is often blamed for Spain's famously late meal and work schedules. In winter Madrid is at UTC+1, advancing to UTC+2 (CEST) from late March to late October. There have been periodic proposals to move Spain back to GMT, but the country still shares the clock with Paris, Berlin, and Rome.

Madrid changes its clocks for daylight saving time, so its exact UTC offset depends on the season (UTC+1 (UTC+2 in summer)). The live clock above reads Madrid's local time directly from the IANA time zone database in your browser, using the rules installed on your device. Keep your browser updated when regional rules change. To plan a call or convert a specific moment, use the timezone converter or meeting planner linked below.

Daylight in Madrid through 2026

Madrid sits at about 40.4°N, 3.7°W. The longest day of 2026 is June 19, with 15h 04m between sunrise and sunset. The shortest is December 18, with 9h 17m, a difference of 5 h 47 min. At this mid-latitude, winter evenings are dark early and summer evenings stay light well after a normal working day.

The earliest sunrise of the year comes around June 8 (06:44) and the latest sunset around June 26 (21:49). These are not exactly on the solstice because the sun’s position runs slightly ahead of or behind clock time during the year.

Solar noon, when the sun is highest, falls at about 13:22 local time in late March, 14:16 in late June and 13:12 in late December. In standard time the sun is highest at about 13:15 on average, roughly 75 minutes after 12:00, so the civil clock runs ahead of sun time and evenings feel late in Madrid. During daylight saving time everything moves an hour later on the clock.

Local clock times, including daylight saving where it applies. Calculated with the standard sunrise equation for the city centre; terrain and tall buildings can delay the visible sunrise.

Clock changes in Madrid (2026–2027)

Madrid changes its clocks twice in 2026. On a change night, the local time skips or repeats a block of time, and the gap to other cities shifts unless they change on the same date.

• Sunday, March 29, 2026: at 02:00 clocks go forward one hour to 03:00 (UTC+1 → UTC+2).
• Sunday, October 25, 2026: at 03:00 clocks go back one hour to 02:00 (UTC+2 → UTC+1).
• Sunday, March 28, 2027: at 02:00 clocks go forward one hour to 03:00 (UTC+1 → UTC+2).
• Sunday, October 31, 2027: at 03:00 clocks go back one hour to 02:00 (UTC+2 → UTC+1).

Recurring meetings set in Madrid time stay at the same local hour; participants elsewhere see the meeting move by an hour for the weeks when only one side has changed.

Dates come from the IANA time zone database as bundled with this site’s build. Governments occasionally change rules at short notice; see our methodology.