When it is 09:00 in Chicago it is 16:00 in Madrid in January and 16:00 in July. Madrid is 7 hours ahead Chicago right now — and the difference is the same all year. This page gives the live times in both cities, the overlap between their working days, the daylight saving dates that move the difference, and the best meeting windows.
Try the tool: Time Zone Converter — convert any time between Chicago and Madrid, with the offset for the date you pick.
Live times in Chicago and Madrid
The two cities side by side. The January column uses the winter offsets (Chicago UTC−06:00, Madrid UTC+01:00); the July column uses the summer offsets (Chicago UTC−05:00, Madrid UTC+02:00).
| Time in Chicago | Madrid in January | Madrid in July |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 07:00 | 07:00 |
| 06:00 | 13:00 | 13:00 |
| 09:00 | 16:00 | 16:00 |
| 12:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 |
| 15:00 | 22:00 | 22:00 |
| 17:00 | 00:00 | 00:00 |
| 21:00 | 04:00 | 04:00 |
The world clock shows the current time in both cities live, and the individual city pages — time in Chicago and time in Madrid — explain each city's time zone, offsets and daylight saving in full.
The time difference between Chicago and Madrid
The difference is constant: Madrid is 7 hours ahead Chicago on every day of the year. That is the simplest case in time-zone work — the answer does not depend on the date, and a meeting set for 09:00 in Chicago is always 16:00 in Madrid. The reason the difference never changes is that both cities observe daylight saving and change their clocks on the same dates.
To convert a time, add the difference: 09:00 in Chicago is 16:00 in Madrid in January and 16:00 in July; 17:00 in Chicago — the end of the working day — is 00:00 in Madrid in January and 00:00 in July. To go the other way, subtract it: 09:00 in Madrid is 02:00 in Chicago in January. The time difference calculator does the arithmetic for any date, and the UTC to Madrid page gives the full conversion table for Madrid.
Meeting overlap between Chicago and Madrid
The overlap is the hours when both cities are in their working day (09:00–17:00 local time). The table marks the overlapping hours in Chicago's working day and shows what time they are in Madrid.
January
| Chicago time | Madrid time | Both working? |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | 16:00 | No |
| 10:00 | 17:00 | No |
| 11:00 | 18:00 | No |
| 12:00 | 19:00 | No |
| 13:00 | 20:00 | No |
| 14:00 | 21:00 | No |
| 15:00 | 22:00 | No |
| 16:00 | 23:00 | No |
In January the overlap is 0 hours: there is no hour when both cities are in their working day. In July it is 0 hours: there is no hour when both cities are in their working day. The two working days do not overlap at all — the difference is too large. The only options are to meet at the edge of the day, to rotate the awkward hour, or to record the meeting.
Daylight saving in Chicago and Madrid
Chicago observes daylight saving: in 2026 the clocks go forward on 8 March 2026 and back on 1 November 2026, moving the offset from UTC−06:00 to UTC−05:00.
Madrid observes daylight saving: in 2026 the clocks go forward on 29 March 2026 and back on 25 October 2026, moving the offset from UTC+01:00 to UTC+02:00.
The difference changes on Sunday, 8 March 2026 and Sunday, 29 March 2026 and Sunday, 25 October 2026 and Sunday, 1 November 2026 in 2026. On those dates, one city changes its clocks and the other does not — or they change on different days — so the difference moves by an hour. A standing meeting set in one city's local time will land an hour early or late on the other side until the second city catches up. The fix is to set the calendar event in UTC, or to check the overlap again after each change. The individual DST pages — Chicago DST 2026 and Madrid DST 2026 — give the exact dates for each city.
Best meeting windows
There is no window inside both working days, in January or in July. The least-bad options are the edges: 08:00 in Chicago is 15:00 in Madrid in January — before the working day in Chicago but a reasonable evening in Madrid — and 17:00 in Chicago is 00:00 in Madrid, which is the morning in Madrid the next day if the difference is large. Rotate the early start between the two sides, week by week, so the same people are not always the ones getting up early.
Calling and travel notes
When it is 09:00 in Chicago it is 16:00 in Madrid in January; when it is 12:00 in Chicago it is 19:00 in Madrid; when it is 17:00 in Chicago it is 00:00 in Madrid. The difference is under 12 hours, so the two cities are usually on the same date — but check the date for late-evening and early-morning times, when the date can differ by a day. Scheduling between the Americas and Europe is the easiest intercontinental case: the difference is 5–9 hours, so the working days overlap for several hours. The best window is late morning in Chicago and afternoon in Madrid (or the reverse), when both sides are in their working day. Watch the three weeks in March when the United States has changed its clocks and Europe has not — the overlap shifts by an hour, and standing meetings land at the wrong time.
Worked conversions
Six conversions, for January (offsets Chicago UTC−06:00, Madrid UTC+01:00):
| Chicago | Madrid |
|---|---|
| 08:00 | 15:00 |
| 09:00 | 16:00 |
| 12:00 | 19:00 |
| 14:00 | 21:00 |
| 17:00 | 00:00 |
| 20:00 | 03:00 |
In July, the answers are the same. For the reverse direction, see Madrid to Chicago time.
Chicago and Madrid at a glance
| Fact | Chicago | Madrid |
|---|---|---|
| Country | United States | Spain |
| Region | Americas | Europe |
| IANA time zone | America/Chicago |
Europe/Madrid |
| Standard offset | UTC−06:00 | UTC+01:00 |
| Daylight saving offset | UTC−05:00 | UTC+02:00 |
| Offset in January 2026 | UTC−06:00 | UTC+01:00 |
| Offset in July 2026 | UTC−05:00 | UTC+02:00 |
| Observes daylight saving | Yes | Yes |
The table is the whole pair in one place. The two numbers that matter most are the January and July offsets: if they are the same in both columns for a city, that city's offset never changes; if they differ, the city observes daylight saving and the difference between the cities moves with it. The individual city pages — time in Chicago and time in Madrid — explain each city's time zone, and the DST pages — Chicago DST 2026 and Madrid DST 2026 — give the exact change dates.
Frequently asked questions
What is the time difference between Chicago and Madrid?
Madrid is 7 hours ahead Chicago right now. In January the difference is 7 hours ahead and in July it is 7 hours ahead — it is the same all year.
How do I schedule a recurring meeting between Chicago and Madrid?
Pick a time inside the overlap — the edge of the day, since there is no overlap — and set the calendar event in UTC so it moves correctly when the clocks change. Re-check the overlap in March and October, when the difference moves, and rotate the time if the meeting falls outside someone's working day.
What time is it in Madrid when it is 09:00 in Chicago?
It is 16:00 in January and 16:00 in July. The time zone converter gives the answer for any date.
What is the best time for a meeting between Chicago and Madrid?
There is no hour inside both working days. Meet at the edge of the day — early morning in one city, evening in the other — and rotate the awkward hour.
Does the time difference between Chicago and Madrid change during the year?
No. The difference is 7 hours ahead all year, because both cities change their clocks on the same dates.
What time is it in Chicago when it is 09:00 in Madrid?
It is 02:00 in January and 02:00 in July. See Madrid to Chicago time for the full comparison from Madrid's side.
What are the time zones of Chicago and Madrid?
Chicago is in America/Chicago (UTC−06:00 standard time) and Madrid is in Europe/Madrid (UTC+01:00 standard time).
What time is it in Chicago when it is midnight in Madrid?
It is 17:00 in Chicago in January and 17:00 in July — the same day, because Chicago is ahead of Madrid. Midnight conversions are the ones that most often land on the wrong date, so always check the date as well as the time.
Sources
- IANA Time Zone Database, via Node.js Intl (
Intl.DateTimeFormatwithtimeZone) — offsets, daylight saving dates and local times in this article were worked out from the IANA database, not typed from memory. - TimeFlow's own time-zone data (
data/cities.ts,data/dst.ts), computed from the IANA database. - TimeFlow's time zone converter and meeting planner — the live tools behind the numbers on this page.
- Time-zone and daylight saving rules are set by governments and can change. For flights, deadlines and meetings that cannot move, confirm the time with an official source.