Spaniards are used to scorching summers and tropical nights, meaning that they’re familiar with many ingenious, unwritten rules for making their homes and bodies cool at night so they can sleep better without the need for air-con.
One of the worst things about summers in Spain is that typically there’s no respite from the intense temperatures, with heatwaves arriving earlier and lasting longer, giving you the sense that you’re trapped in a perpetual ola de calor (heatwave).
It’s also often uncomfortably warm or hot at night too, which makes it very difficult to have a good night’s sleep.
Many places across the country have been experiencing torrid nights where the temperature doesn’t drop below 25C or even hellish nights hovering around 30C.
So how exactly to you sleep in such extreme heat, particularly when you don’t have air-conditioning or when you don’t want to put it on all night?
Even though it’s becoming increasingly hard for Spaniards to deal with the rising temperatures caused by climate change, they are used to the summer heat, meaning that they’ve acquired the generational knowledge necessary to get the best possible sleep when it’s still hot outside.
These are some of the best unwritten Spanish rules for sleeping during a heatwave.
READ ALSO: The best Spanish food and drink to keep you cool during the summer heat
Mop the floor
Before you go to bed, do a spot of home cleaning and mop your floors. As the water evaporates from the floor, it draws heat energy from around the room and should lower the temperature and help cool things quicker.
Spray water on curtains and bedsheets
While you don’t really want to go to bed soaked, lightly spraying your bed and your curtains with a fine mist can help. The idea behind this is similar to the one above in that through evaporation, it helps cool the room down faster.
Put your bedlinen in the freezer for a while
You’re probably using your freezer a lot more in the summer, to store and make ice, ice-creams, lollies and to keep drinks cool, but have you considered cooling down your sheets to help you sleep better? You should typically leave them in for around 10-15 minutes. The freezing process removes heat from the fabric and provides a cool refreshing surface to lie down on. Be aware though, the sheets will turn to normal temperature within 15 to 20 minutes, but it might help you drift off to sleep at the start of the night.
On this note, try and avoid polyester bed sheets in summer as these can trap heat, cotton or linen are much better alternatives.
READ ALSO: Spain registers hottest first half of summer on record
Spicy food cools down the body
A ‘picante’ (spicy) ramen soup or Thai curry is probably the last thing you feel like eating during a heatwave, but there is a good reason why many hot countries have spicy food. This is because it makes you sweat, and when the sweat evaporates, it cools down your skin. Just make sure you don’t use your oven to make your food as this can significantly increase the temperature in your home.
Point the fan to the window
It may sound counterintuitive, you want the fan pointing at you, not away from you towards the window, right? Actually, by pointing your fan towards an open window you can actually force the hot air outside and draw in cooler air. Be aware, this only really works at night. During the day in Spain, the air outside is often hotter than inside.
Freeze rice in a sock and take it to bed
Just like you need a hot water bottle in winter, you need something cold to hug onto in summer here in Spain. Try putting rice in a sock and freezing it before you go to bed or even take a frozen bottle of water with you.
READ ALSO – Heatwave plans: Ten things to do in Spain when it’s too hot outside
Switch off lights
Of course most people sleep with the lights out anyway, but if you can turn them off well before you go to bed in your room, it can in fact lower the temperature by a couple of degrees. Every little helps when you’re trying to sleep in extreme heat right?
Wear loose clothing
However you choose to sleep in a heatwave, make sure you’re not wearing tight clothing that clings to your body. You want loose fitting garments that allow airflow to pass between them and your skin, which can speed up sweat evaporation and help keep you cooler.
Take a cool shower
Taking a cooling shower before bed is a great way to help lower your body’s core temperature. Again, the evaporation of water from your skin helps to keep you cooler. Make sure it’s not a freezing cold shower though as scientists warn that this can make your body heat back up faster afterwards.
READ ALSO: What are my rights while working in extreme heat in Spain?
Put socks in the freezer
Putting socks in the freezer in order to cool your feet down at night can also help to lower the temperature of the rest of the body. Other areas that you should prioritise cooling down are hands, wrists and neck, as this will help carry coolness to other parts of the body.
Put an ice bucket in front of a fan
If you don’t have air-con you can try creating your own DIY version by putting a bowl of ice in front of a fan to blow cooler air onto you. This method works better in southern or central Spain where the heat is dryer. In more humid places such as along the Mediterranean coast, it can make the room feel stickier and may in fact make the situation worse.
Don’t share a bed
This one may not be possible to avoid as you may not have extra beds, but sleeping alongside someone else can increase the heat in the room too. Another body simply creates more heat and the closer they are to you, the hotter you feel too. If you don’t have space for another bed, perhaps a bigger one will help, so that you and your partner have space to roll away from each other in the heat.
