Hard to do school work on the weekends

Little placards with stock images of a crossed-out computer litter the tables at Federal Café in Madrid. One large square table, typically crammed full of headphone-wearing laptop users nervously struggling for the single outlet or biting their fingernails while staring at their fluorescent screens, stands nearly empty by the entrance.

Today, there is not a laptop in sight, but instead three middle-aged women, chatting amongst themselves over their cafe con leche. Where typically sits a little black sign: “laptop-friendly table (:,” instead sits a vase of flowers.

“Today, no, it’s a holiday,” a stern-faced barista tells an eager young customer as she pulls her laptop out of her bag. The barista swiftly turns back to the espresso machine, without issuing an apology. Turns out that Friday, Dec. 9 (The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a Spanish holiday) accompanies weekends on the list of circumstances that don’t permit laptop use.

Visiting students in Madrid, specifically those from the United States, run into a unique café protocol around laptop use. The city is home to over 45,181 international students, making it the number one student destination in Spain, according to the Communidad de Madrid.