How I Stay Cool in Spain During the Summer

In honor of the new heat wave sweeping Central/Western Europe* I will share my secret for how I stay cool in southern Spain in the summer. The answer....[drumroll please]

Air conditioning. 

Let me repeat that a little louder.

AIR CONDITIONING.

What a non-functional air conditioner looks like in Spain

There is nothing like it. There is no good alternative. You need AC and it will improve your life 100%.

And Spanish houses made of stone are so wonderfully energy efficient! You run the AC just a bit and it cools down the house so quickly and it stays cool with the persianas [rolladens] lowered.

 In the US I set my AC all summer to 68F/20c**, in Spain, 25c/77F feels fine to me because it's a "dry heat" (most of the time; noches tropicales excepted, although in that case again, the AC does a great job of sucking up all that humidity that makes the nights feel so icky).

Yes, there are many things that you can do to "beat the heat" but the one tried and true thing, more important than cold showers, blowing a fan across a bucket of ice, cuddling up with a frozen 1.5 liter bottle of water: is a functional air conditioning unit. Accept no substitutes.

During the last heat wave in Seville, I saw a cook faint while carrying out the trash one afternoon. The bar didn't have AC and the dining area was stifling; I cannot even imagine how hot it was in the kitchen for the cook to pass out from the heat. From that day forward, I refuse to patronize business that do not have adequate AC for their employees and customers. I do not stay in accommodations that do not have AC. It's not worth it and it's really hazardous in a heat wave. 

That said, AC in Spain is often somewhat lukewarm in public places. Even places that used to have good AC (aka strong enough to feel cool) have raised their thermostats, e.g. the Seville Aquarium. Which makes it all the more important to have strong AC in your hotel, so you can have that important reset.

Even the Seville Aquarium's AC has gotten less "potente" 

*In an unbelievable twist of irony, Sevilla has had such great, mild weather the past few days!! I can't believe it but I'll take it!

**For whatever it's worth, i barely heat my home in winter because i'm a polar bear, so i spend all my climate control $$$ in the sumer