The Spanish economy, Europe’s fifth-largest, is faltering. This is not exactly breaking news, but undeniably a worrying issue which needs to be addressed in 2011, the year in which Spain and the eurozone as a whole ‘is likely to receive its severest test,’ according to business expert Robert Peston.

Concerns over the country’s banking and property sectors, as well as an immense financial debt totalling 53.2% of current GDP, have had analysts screaming bail-out fears since Ireland were forced to accept a £72bn rescue package last November. Arguably the biggest existing stumbling block to progress is Spain’s remarkable unemployment rate, which experienced a sharp increase from 8% in late 2008, and has been dangerously hovering around the 20% mark since.

So, with the international glare firmly focused on Madrid, what to do? How to stop Spain from being cast out into the economic shadows with Greece, Ireland, and potentially Iberian counterpart Portugal? A difficult question, especially in light of the small-town political apathy I have come across in my time in the country. In conversation with one of my colleagues this week, I was disappointed to learn of parental conduct in a recent school vote to shorten the school day by two hours, cutting out the waste-of-space lunch break of the same length and adjusting timetables accordingly, even compensating for childcare until 4pm, meaning business as usual. Parents who declared themselves against the motion defaced posters urging the electorate to vote, instead turning potential voters against the poll so the required quota of voters would not be reached, and the subsequent approbation of the motion could not be finalised.

This, in stark juxtaposition to the 75.3% turnout in Spain’s 2008 general election, and in a matter in which they have, arguably, simultaneously more leverage and more immediate concern. Would it be wrong to say that some of Spain’s old guard have not yet grasped the struggle for democracy that still burns freshly in the nation’s collective conscience?

Political apathy and economic stagnation go hand-in-hand, and hint at a burgeoning laziness creeping into the Spanish psyche. I’m not an expert on money matters, and I don’t pretend to be, but perhaps facilitating business on a European stage might be easier if the Spanish shrugged off their frankly illogical working hours to fall in line with the rest of Europe. Madrid, as a capital city, appears more clued up than some of its more rural cousins, however, the enduring power of the siesta still holds true even here, in the central metropolis. If not all, but many, shops and offices close between two and five in the afternoon, ruled by the laws of tradition, even in the winter months, when the heat is most definitely mild enough to conduct business as usual between these hours.

This is unfamiliar territory for a British expat like myself, and I am yearning for the days when I could leave my house at the reasonable hour of three o’clock and complete the simple task of buying stamps. Instead, I have to confront the reality of the Spanish timetable. Could I please come view your apartment in the afternoon? Sure, pop round at eight. And so the vicious cycle of getting up early, crashing in the afternoon and feeling obliged to take the siesta that won’t permit you to go to sleep until the wee small hours continues, and business opportunities go amiss.

And I’m not falling into clichés here – I have lived, indeed am living, the reality of life in Spain. Having been here for five months, I have been registered as a legal, working resident for the grand total of one week. For a working individual, the red tape and constant treadmill of procedures to comply with is complicated by the fact that the country all but shuts down on a weekend, including that beloved convenience of modern life, the supermarket. Many a time I have concocted appetising recipes of plain pasta, cheap olive oil and a few garlic cloves, having made the horrifying realisation that I have no food in the fridge and no means of acquiring it without significant effort for a good twenty-four hours. Last weekend my snack of choice was dry Coco Pop rip-offs and chocolate spread; a kind of homemade cereal bar in a mug. World, this is my gift to you – brilliant.

However, Spain, this little grumble is my gift to you. A series of easy changes that can be put in place to steer you away from economic woe. Never mind the widely-hailed ‘grand social pact’ the socialist government revealed last week, rather a small social adjustment that promotes more consistent trading hours and increased productivity.

Terry Leah tried and tested ‘every little helps’ method worked for Tesco, didn’t it? More than 290bn euros of debt should soon just melt away, right?