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Spanish Lifestyle. Living in Spain

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Living in Spain in winter

Living in Spain in winter

Whenever you read about life on the Costas, it will mention the 320 days of sunshine, and mild year round climate. However, the true reality is that its bloody cold in winter! Yes, the sun is out during the day most days, but come 5pm the chill sets in and the temperatures drop. Spanish houses are built to stay cool. In the summer you never feel cool enough, but in winter you realise that it works and they do not retain the warmth of the days sunshine. In fact, it is often warmer out than in!

Everyone knows the benefits of living in Spain - the healthy climate, warm weather, sun - sea - sangria - etc. For those intending to relocate, you should also be aware of some of the negatives which very rarely get a mention before making that final decision. Obviously for me, and many others, the pluses far outweigh the minus's or we wouldn't still be here - but it is sometimes difficult to remember those when you are sitting in the dark and cold at night because the bad weather has caused a power cut and you have run out of gas or logs to keep warm.

The majority of older properties do not have central heating, relying on the wood burning stove to keep warm. However, coming home from work and clearing out last night's ashes, bringing in logs, building and lighting a fire, is a tiresome chore. Depending on where the fire is located in the house, it will generally not be enough to heat the whole house anyway. Even if you are lucky enough to have central heating, this will most likely be fuelled by gas bottles which are quite expensive, and you may well run out of gas before the delivery is due.

Then you have the Gota Fria's to cope with, which literally translated means the 'cold drop'. It is actually a torrental downpour that can last for days without stopping. Within 15 minutes, roads can become inpassable with cars stopping dead in their tracks. Mud and rocks slide down from the mountains all over the roads, there are power cuts which can last several hours, satellite TV disturbances, and public transport grinds to a halt. Spain is not prepared for winter weather or rain. The same 'inconveniences' occur during a normal storm, which although are generally short lived, will still cause an amazing amount of distruption. Last year we had a heavy snow shower in Jalon meaning no-one could get in or out of the valley for over 24 hours.

Living in Spain in winter can therefore be cold, wet and quite uncomfortable at times. Many permanent residents go back to the UK in summer because of the heat, but me - I would go back to the comfort of central heating and 24/7 services between November - March if I had the choice.

3 Comments:

  • Absoulutley spot on, great blog and especialy down to earth, information like this is the real stuff.

    It was -18 in Feb of this year where I am in Andalucia!froze the car for 3 days but in July it got upto +43 thats a 61 degree temp difference.

    keep it up! will keep an eye on this one!
    www.caves-inland-andalucia.blogspot.com

    By Blogger Unknown, at 10:10 pm  

  • Thanks. I like to tell it like it is. There's too much glossy magazine/TV 'idyllic life in Spain' articles about and no-one bothers to mention the bad stuff. Not that I'm complaining too much - I still luv it here!

    By Blogger Debbie, at 10:19 pm  

  • I would like to appreciate the great work done You.

    Best Regarding.
    Life Style

    By Blogger Unknown, at 7:49 am  

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