Portugal's tradition of the after-lunch siesta is under threat and needs to be upheld, according to an association of nap defenders.

The new Portuguese Association of Friends of the Siesta aims to wake up Portuguese to naps as a defence against the rapid pace of modern life and as a way to stay healthy, said Prates Miguel, a lawyer and one of the group's founders.

The association wants "to make Portuguese citizens conscious that the siesta is not a vice of deadbeats," he told the Lusa news agency...