Hello, and greetings from the 'cold' north

Im going to Madrid in July, when I ordered my vacation in January, I never expected it to be as hot as it seems to be now... the temperature must be almost unbearabel ?? Is it too hot, to move around and do a lot of sightseeing in the daytime?

And does anybody have some good advice on what to do, when its this hot.. ? Thinking about visiting, retiro, casa de campo and I hear that the air should be cooler at Parque de Atracciones at evening/night time..

So if anybody have some good advice, on how to get by in the red hot Madrid please post them.. Thanx!!

Couldn´t agree with you more. Yesterday (Thursday) in Madrid it was the coolest day, by far, since I arrived 6 days ago. Otherwise, it´s Sweat City for the forseeable future. But really, it´s true what they say, "it's a dry heat". Which means it takes you about 30% longer to sweat the same amount. Just dress as lightly as possible, wear sunscreen protection, drink lots of water, and stay in the shade. Spending time in the parks and museums would be a good way to escape the worst heat for periods of time. But if you´re sightseeing - and you are - you´ll have to be outside, onfoot, in the city where it´s the hottest.

I can imagine if I ever lived here I´d become a virtual hermit during the months of June, July, and August, MAYBE coming out of my hovel only at night.

For the 5-Day Weather Forecast and current temperatures in Madrid, visit http://www.MadridMan.com/weather.html . Today it´s going to get up to 98ºF (36ºC). Great. The weekend will be considerably cooler, thank goodness.

Best of luck. Stay coool. It´ll be another HOT HOT HOT day today.

Saludos, MadridMan

Many foreigners don't understand why small shops are closed from 2pm to 5:30pm, or why offices close at 3pm in Summer. Now, you've got a reason why.

Hi, nordica.
I'm also from the 'cold' North....of Spain!
And for me the first summer in Madrid was... well...
shocking? unexpected? terrible?
And I was warned and I knew the facts. So, I guess nobody is ready.
You suffer the first times... then you still suffer.
I still suffer, and it's my 7th summer.

Nordica,

I'll be there in July as well. The museums provide respite and under some trees in El Retiro with a cool drink is a nice way to relax.
I was in Madrid in late June last summer and I was just so happy to be there, I didn't care much about the heat!
Or take your siesta in the afternoon and emerge when the sun is lower in the sky and the city begins thumping with it's afternoon and evening rituals...tapas.... el paseo...

Have a lovely trip!
Lynette

Hi Lynette! Nice to see another Philadelphian around here.

Recommendations for "enjoying" this heat wave:

1. Keep a bottle of water with you at all times.
2. Do your tourist shopping at El Corte Inglés during midday when the sun is the hottest and the airconditioning is at full blast inside.
3. Enjoy the parks in the morning hours (9-11) before the heat really hits, or in the evening (6pm onwards). Sun doesn't set until 9:30-10pm so you still have plenty of daylight.
4. Avoid mayonnaise based foods (ensaladilla rusa, patatas alioli, etc.). As tempting as they might look under glass with all the other tapas, they don't mix well with the heat.
5. Eat lightly and frequently. Fresh veggies and fruits are the best.
6. Enjoy all the ice cream you want without an ounce of guilt!

Hola Chica! Not many Philadelphians here, eh?

I'm with you on the ice cream. And El Corte Ingles for that matter! Shopping and ice cream is the cure for heat anywhere!

Chica writes: I hope you will be coming back for Live-8 on the Parkway July 2nd (or even just see parts of it on Cable-TV).

How about a nice Italian water-ice??

I'd much rather put up with the summer heat of Madrid than have to deal with 1 million people crammed on the Parkway in the high heat and humidity of Philly (and with only 300 toilets).

And helado beats a wudder ice any day.

Probably you are taking too much of the day and too little of the night. Madrileños avoid the first half of the day by sleping and take advantage of the first (and cooler) hours of the night by going out.

Andres

"Wudder ice..." good one, SFY. You know Philly, don't you?!

Eddie, will you be joining the millions on the Parkway yourself? I will have just landed in Madrid and will be taking the advice of Andres and living much of the vacation life por la noche, as I do each time I am there.

Thank you everyone, so much for your responses!

What was I thinking booking my Madrid-trip in july Well I will try to make the best of it.. so my program in the hottest hours will be spending time shopping (places with air-condition), museums and enyoing ice cream in the parks..

What about a day trip (Toledo, El Escorial, Valley of the Fallen, Segovia etc.) Some of these places, that are cooler?

Is there any public pools in the city? I've read that there should be some in casa de campo?

Best regards

There are a lot of public pools in Madrid, and they are not really expensive. I've never been to the pools at Casa de Campo, when I was a kid I used to go to "Parque Sindical", which is pretty close to Moncloa Palace. You can look for public pools in your area in Madrid's town council web page, which is www.munimadrid.es.

And please, stay away of the heat in the early afternoon (remember that early afternoon for us is from 3pm to 6pm). Have you noticed that if you go for a walk at Gran Vía at 4pm you will find no spaniards at all?

One funny thing about being in Madrid during the summer is that even in the middle of a heat wave,the water in the shower still comes out ice cold.Does the water come from the nearby Guadarrama mountains where the snow is still melting?

My aunt has a wonderful story about almost fainting in Toledo when visiting one summer. She said it was crowded and the sun was high in the sky most of the day. With the narrow streets there was nowhere to hide in the shade.

I think she may have been being a little overly dramatic, but I have heard Toledo can get quite toasty in the summer. You may want to save that day trip for another time of year.

I just checked the weather and it looks like Segovia may be a little cooler, so that might be a good bet for a day trip.

Good luck! Next time go in January like I did

Still jealous of all of you in Spain, even if you are being baked.

Today might be the coolest day in the last several days, probably due in part of the rain last night. Today in Madrid it´s supposed to be about 81ºF/27ºC and lows of 61ºF/16ºC. Tomorrow/Wednesday, a high of only 80ºF and even cooler lows. Wow. That´s great. FINALLY! Finally? And on my last days in Madrid! Hmph!

Saludos, MadridMan

I've been to Spain a couple of times in summer, and I found Segovia was quite a nice, cool place - maybe worth a visit (well, it is definitely worth a visit anyway! :-))

Ahh the heat...I miss everything else about Madrid except the oven-like quality of the city in the summer

There's a great public pool in Casa de Campo @ Metro: Lago. Exit the metro and follow up to your right. It's 4 euro for the big, Olympic-sized outdoor pool and there's lots of grass and pool deck spaces to stretch out under a shady tree when you don't want to be in the water. Perfect way to spend a July day in Madrid...

I posted this on another similar topic, but I always go to the Madrid 86 pool, which is like a 2 minute walk from the Sainz de Beranda metro stop (line 9). They have an Olympic pool indoors and outdoors, and they also have a small shallow pool and waterslide (not too big, but nice). The little pool is up on the hill and not very easy to find (I didn't "discover" it until like my 4th time to the pool). If you don't know this area very well, it is very close to the TVE spaceship-looking tower:) Anyway, good luck in your search! A

From El País today:

Now THAT'S HOT!

Saludos, MadridMan

Yep, right now it is 7:45pm in Madrid and the temps are currently at an unforgiving 97º!

UGH!!!

Chica and MM: Neither of you are generating a lot of sympathy on the heat. Here in Phoenix, Arizona it is in the low 100sF and will be so until at least early October. Today was 106F, lucky us, it is supposed to storm and rain tonight which means the humidity will come up.

I remember playing tennis on some of the hot weather in Spain. I was much younger then. I remember salt deposits forming down my sideburns. Sure don't think I'd enjoy that heat any more though. It's been in the mid 90's here in Michigan, although the humidity has been uncharacteristically low, in the 80%, and still it's been miserable.

The whole world has been having a hot summer this year. Here in Sacramento, CA it's been in the low 100's too...luckily low humidity. My friend in Seattle says it has even been hot there. Here it's even to hot to swim..the pool water is too warm and doesn't feel refreshing
Stay cool everyone!
Angela

One thing I noticed was that it was soooo extremely hot everywhere I went, but it wasn't humid. I started out in Madrid and yes it was very hot but not unbearable and this was in late June. I traveled further south to Cadiz and there it was so hot I couldn't walk on the sand but it would've been way worse if it was humid...sometimes here it is worse even if it's just 80 degrees but with high humidity.

Ahem, not here in the UK! In fact it's felt quite cool the last couple of weeks here with the temperature at night going down to 6/7 C. Still it's forecast to get warmer this week...

Spain in August in non-beach areas A quick wrap up. First I was raised in places where summer starts in April and spring is a two week wonder. Now I live in the Snowbelt. People raised in the American South, Southwest, Southern California esp south of LA know this weather as do people in San Fernando Valley Madrid--- OK tolerable The Tryp Atocha was near a subway stop and near the Paseo del Prado and Atocha station. We both found the weather tolerable though definitely warm. One night at the Pl. Santa Ana it was packed and a bit muggy... until the beers arrived. We packed water. I bought a fan. Nightime somewhat pleasant. Otherwise nothing special was needed.

Cordoba---surprisingly tolerable. The Mequita is a bit stuffy in late afternoon. Hot. The little twisty streets often had breezes (yes!) Nightime was fairly nice Walked everywhere

Granada----Ok, now we're starting to heat up. Although Alhambra palace area was tolerable the Alcazar and Generalife required hat time. Water now more important. Exposed parts of the gardens were not great. Highly recommend :nightime viewing of Alhambra: it is cooler and much less crowded. Albaycin OK We even walked back down the hill after 9:30 pm.

Sevilla---I expected New Orleans in August. Instead it was more like Arizona. Burning heat:respect it or else! It is doable but all procedures for tough heat must be followed.

Water crucial. Shadows crucial.We would walk half a block out of our way to stay on the shadowed side of the street. Pace really slows down to a ramble whether you wish to or not. You will slow down.

Saw people in 17-20 yrs old range just collapsed on steps, benches,etc. Either they closed the tapas bars [ entirely possible, it's fun,no?] or they overjudged their ability to keep brisk pace. Locals of any age aren't exactly dashing about either. Nightime still hot but you don't burn. The very nice señora who ran the Hotel Amadeus warned us that Barcelona was muggy and that the day after we were to leave the temp was going down 4 degrees (promises, promises)

Barcelona: muggy but quite tolerable. After first day downright comfortable especially after 3 days in Sevilla. Not much hat time. Breezy at Barceloneta.

The Metro trains are often air conditioned but the stations are not. I packed a fan for the stations

CONCLUSIONS; It can be done, don't know about people who don't live in heat. Some things that help:

Keep drinking water,especially in Sevilla Avoid those "fry pan" plazas. You know, the ones with lovely old buildings and NOT ONE tree or archway there to ward off the rays. Walk around them not across them. Sleeveless tops work but beware the burn, esepcially if you have: lt. hair, lt. eyes, and lt. skin Stick religiously to the shady side of streets. Andalú sun can really do a number on you. I saw a lot of burned skin, particularly in Sevilla, even on some brunettes. Black Irish types take note; you can burn. Flimsy tops do absolutely nothing to keep you from burning either. Either lotion or those new light 30 pdf materials. Ditto shorts and minis Noted burned calves too (standing in lines) had a wonderful time everywhere.

I see that rain is forecast in Madrid this week. Can anyone there confirm that it's started to rain - It sure is needed..

filbert, thanks for asking!! I, personally, can confirm it has started raining in Madrid. Yesterday they had some kind of record rainfall for some period of time. I had evidence of a soaked shoulder and arm from being only half under the umbrella. Wow, at about 8pm it was raining cats and dogs!! It sprinkled only a little this morning and that was it. But they say it should rain tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday 'til the afternoon and then should clear out with cool-ish temperatures. It has been so pleasantly cool for me these days here in Madrid. In fact, two days this week I´ve taken a wonderful siesta after a home-cooked lunch on a 6th-floor terraza with a skyline view overlooking the dome of the San Sanfrisco Church, El Faro de Moncloa, and even the Royal Palace. Yesterday it was cloudly but I slept for about 30 minutes before it started raining on me. Today was the same but no rain, only clouds.

Saludos, MadridMan