Time difference between Hong Kong and Madrid

The gap is not the same all year

Every converter gives one number for this pair. That number is right for most of the year and wrong for part of it, because Hong Kong does not change its clocks and Madrid goes forward on the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October.

Hong Kong stays put all year while Madrid moves, so the gap changes twice a year from Madrid's side alone. A recurring meeting set in Hong Kong's calendar will drift by an hour without anyone touching it.

About Hong Kong and Madrid

Hong Kong is UTC+8 all year and has been since 1979, when it dropped a summer-time arrangement that had run intermittently since the 1940s. It shares the offset with mainland China, which simplifies a great deal.

Spain is on Central European Time and sits west of Britain — Madrid is at the same longitude as Cardiff and keeps clocks an hour ahead of it. Franco moved the country onto German time in 1940 and it stayed, which is the reason Spanish dinner is at ten.

What 6 hours actually costs you

The window is 2 hours wide and that is all there is. 3:00 PM–5:00 PM in Hong Kong is 9:00 AM–11:00 AM in Madrid, and anything outside it puts somebody at their desk when they are not meant to be. A pair this tight is worth putting in a calendar rather than agreeing each time.

When they can both be at their desks

Nine-to-five in both cities overlaps for 2 hours — 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM in Hong Kong, the same moment as 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Madrid.

Hong Kong

Madrid

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How far apart Hong Kong and Madrid are

The shortest path over the Earth's surface between the two is 10,537 km (6,548 miles). Flown along that line, an airliner at cruising speed takes roughly 13 hours 10 minutes in the air — actual routings add to it, and whether a nonstop service exists depends on the airlines rather than the distance.

Over that distance you cross 6 hours of clock, which is where jet lag comes from: the body shifts by about an hour a day, so 6 hours takes most people 6 days or so to absorb. Flying west to Madrid is the easier direction — you gain the hours, and staying up later comes more naturally than going to bed early.

Hong Kong to Madrid, hour by hour

On the usual gap of 6 hours.

Frequently asked questions