Originally Posted by
mandolino
Spain is about nightlife to me (and I'm not young, it's for all ages) so my perspective might be different - but I don't think you see much of a Spanish city unless you overnight there. For a start, in Andalucia (and Madrid to an extent) most places are "closed for business" in the afternoon, then spring back into life about 8-9pm.
It comes down to wildly differing definitions of night. In Spanish "afternoon" lasts until about 10 PM I'd say. If you ask a Spaniard about night life, it's talking about generally starting a 1-2AM. Since we all speak English, you can assume a heavy Anglo bias where that's just crazy unless really going crazy partying.
The life until 1AM is just the dinner crowd, honestly.