diff --git a/docs/plans-executions/2026-08-24-1025-otel-tracing.md b/docs/plans-executions/2026-08-24-1025-otel-tracing.md
index d6c1ed0..d7f582c 100644
--- a/docs/plans-executions/2026-08-24-1025-otel-tracing.md
+++ b/docs/plans-executions/2026-08-24-1025-otel-tracing.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ Plan: `docs/plans/2026-08-24-1025-otel-tracing.md`
 - [x] Step 2 — New package `internal/tracing`
 - [x] Step 3 — `provider.WithTracing` decorator
 - [x] Step 4 — `cmd/main.go` wiring
-- [ ] Step 5 — Reconciler spans
+- [x] Step 5 — Reconciler spans
 - [ ] Step 6 — Discovery server
 - [ ] Step 7 — GC + health
 - [ ] Step 8 — GCP wire-log enrichment
@@ -100,3 +100,21 @@ gcp constructor already used for wire-log options.
 Deviation: the plan put `--trace-health-probes` here, but the flag needs the
 `health.Engine.TraceProbes` field that Step 7 introduces — moved there to
 keep every commit compiling.
+
+## Step 5 — Reconciler spans
+
+`SetupWithManager` completes with `tracing.NewReconciler("Proxy", r)`;
+sub-spans `reconcile.managed` / `reconcile.replaceInstance` /
+`reconcile.delete` open at the top of each state machine, and `status.patch`
+opens inside the deferred flush closure so it stays within the root span
+while its error still folds into the recorded result. `reconcileExternal`
+left unspanned as planned (no I/O).
+
+Two small judgment calls: the sub-spans carry no extra attributes — the
+provider decorator already records `provider.id`, and the root span carries
+the object identity, so duplicating them was noise; and `status.patch` is
+emitted every reconcile even when nothing changed (the no-op compare is the
+span's content — a real PATCH shows up as its k8s HTTP child). Tests that
+call `r.Reconcile` directly bypass the wrapper; with no global tracer set
+they see no-op spans, so the existing fake-client and envtest suites run
+unchanged.
diff --git a/internal/controller/proxy_controller.go b/internal/controller/proxy_controller.go
index 3bf1d5f..e5fbb2f 100644
--- a/internal/controller/proxy_controller.go
+++ b/internal/controller/proxy_controller.go
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ import (
 	crawlv1alpha1 "gitea.home.hrajfrisbee.cz/kacerr/egress-proxies-operator/api/v1alpha1"
 	"gitea.home.hrajfrisbee.cz/kacerr/egress-proxies-operator/internal/health"
 	"gitea.home.hrajfrisbee.cz/kacerr/egress-proxies-operator/internal/provider"
+	"gitea.home.hrajfrisbee.cz/kacerr/egress-proxies-operator/internal/tracing"
 )
 
 // HealthSnapshotter provides the current probe verdict for a proxy. The
@@ -96,9 +97,14 @@ func (r *ProxyReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (res
 	}
 	base := p.DeepCopy()
 	defer func() {
+		// Runs inside the root reconcile span (this defer fires before the
+		// tracing.NewReconciler wrapper sees the return), and its error is
+		// folded into err, which that wrapper records.
+		pctx, span := tracing.Start(ctx, "status.patch")
+		defer span.End()
 		// NotFound is expected when this reconcile just removed the last
 		// finalizer and the object is already gone.
-		if perr := r.patchStatusIfChanged(ctx, base, &p); perr != nil && !apierrors.IsNotFound(perr) {
+		if perr := r.patchStatusIfChanged(pctx, base, &p); perr != nil && !apierrors.IsNotFound(perr) {
 			err = errors.Join(err, perr)
 		}
 	}()
@@ -114,6 +120,8 @@ func (r *ProxyReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (res
 }
 
 func (r *ProxyReconciler) reconcileManaged(ctx context.Context, p *crawlv1alpha1.Proxy) (ctrl.Result, error) {
+	ctx, span := tracing.Start(ctx, "reconcile.managed")
+	defer span.End()
 	log := logf.FromContext(ctx)
 
 	if controllerutil.AddFinalizer(p, crawlv1alpha1.FinalizerName) {
@@ -224,6 +232,8 @@ func (r *ProxyReconciler) reconcileManaged(ctx context.Context, p *crawlv1alpha1
 // exists" — hence: delete, poll to NotFound, only then advance the hash and
 // let the create branch run.
 func (r *ProxyReconciler) replaceInstance(ctx context.Context, p *crawlv1alpha1.Proxy, prov provider.Provider, hash string) (ctrl.Result, error) {
+	ctx, span := tracing.Start(ctx, "reconcile.replaceInstance")
+	defer span.End()
 	_, err := prov.Get(ctx, p.Status.ProviderID)
 	if provider.Class(err) == provider.ErrNotFound {
 		// Old instance is gone. The Update inside setSpecHash refreshes p
@@ -252,6 +262,8 @@ func (r *ProxyReconciler) replaceInstance(ctx context.Context, p *crawlv1alpha1.
 }
 
 func (r *ProxyReconciler) reconcileDelete(ctx context.Context, p *crawlv1alpha1.Proxy) (ctrl.Result, error) {
+	ctx, span := tracing.Start(ctx, "reconcile.delete")
+	defer span.End()
 	if !controllerutil.ContainsFinalizer(p, crawlv1alpha1.FinalizerName) {
 		return ctrl.Result{}, nil
 	}
@@ -409,7 +421,10 @@ func (r *ProxyReconciler) SetupWithManager(mgr ctrl.Manager) error {
 	if r.HealthEvents != nil {
 		b = b.WatchesRawSource(source.Channel(r.HealthEvents, &handler.EnqueueRequestForObject{}))
 	}
-	return b.Complete(r)
+	// Root span per reconcile; sub-reconcilers and the status flush hang
+	// their spans off it. Tests calling r.Reconcile directly bypass the
+	// wrapper and see no-op spans — the global tracer is never set there.
+	return b.Complete(tracing.NewReconciler("Proxy", r))
 }
 
 func (r *ProxyReconciler) applyDefaults() {