In Spain they do not distinguish between afternoon and evening. In Slovenia we have the morning, evening, afternoon, night but in Spain they do not distinguish between afternoon and evening. So, if someone tells you they will call you it means any time between 4pm and 9pm, or maybe not at all. The afternoon does not start at 12pm. It all depends on when you have lunch. Since most Spanish do not have lunch until 2pm or 3pm. The Spanish will always be late. In Spain it is on a different level, especially around social occasions. If you are being invited to a party and they say come at 9pm really means please do not come before 10pm and if you arrive from somewhere else at 1am that will be absolutely fine also. Nothing starts on time. A morning meeting, or training course, may be scheduled for 9am. I have noticed that the longer it is due to last, the later people will arrive. So being 10 or 15 minutes late for a two hour course will be the norm. Lunches last until nighttime. Weekend lunch is one of the great Spanish social occasions. Expect it to last into the evening.
