How climate change threatens our holidays to Spain
Conserving water, preventing wildfires and shifting our body clocks on holiday to take advantage of cooler temperatures – just some of the ways we will need to adapt if we don’t want to miss out on holidays to Spain, finds Eloise Barker, writer at Responsible Travel
On New Year’s Day 2023 in Bilbao, Spain, temperatures reached 25°C. It’s just the latest in a series of climate events that have affected the country…
Down at the sea shore in Asturias, northern Spain, the little coves of Ana Rodriguez Garcia’s childhood have been washed away. “All the little beaches disappear over winter and have to be artificially refilled with sand,” says Ana, founder of Peak Me Languages, which provides walking and Spanish language holidays.
It’s a common problem. More frequent storms and rising sea levels caused by climate change have washed away beaches from Barcelona to the Balearics.
In Asturias, the weather was deceptively beautiful last summer. “The fact that it’s nicer weather here doesn’t make it any less scary, because we don’t know when it’s going to stop,” says Ana; green northern Spain needs a bit of rain if it wants to remain green.
Instead, Saharan sand occasionally covers the area – a visceral reminder that almost three quarters of the country is at risk of desertification.
The average traveller may simply not yet notice the climate changing. Maybe there’s a day that’s too hot for walking, or a flash flood that closes a route.
In Girona, northern Catalonia, there used to be summer storms in August, rolling around like clockwork in the afternoons. Tourists probably don’t miss their absence. But locals are adding the anecdotes to a growing tally, and operators know that they must make changes to how they run trips to cope.
Spain’s climate crisis
While visitors might not notice the changes, they will see the headlines. Spain finds itself on the frontlines of climate change in Europe. The country experienced its hottest October on record in 2022 and prolonged drought sparked multiple frightening wildfires. The winter of 2022-2023 has been a heatwave, with temperature records smashed. A British newspaper reported that 70 percent of Britons think Spain will be too hot to visit by 2027.
Travellers to Spain are likely to find themselves subject to a growing list of guidelines from their operators – about water conservation, heat protection and wildfire prevention. It will mean that visitors will have to be increasingly mindful of everything they do.
Drought in Catalonia
“There’s a scary lack of water in Catalonia,” says Fiona Smart, who runs Mas Pelegri cycling holidays from an off-grid eco lodge in the area. They have always encouraged their guests to be frugal with resources like water and power. Many wells in their region ran dry in 2022 for the first time ever. They’ve noticed their pomegranate and plum trees struggling– “the fruits just went black and fell off” – and they’re considering digging another, much deeper, well.
In Tarragona, further south in Catalonia, there are wildfires in winter now. A fire last February ravaged 400 hectares of Cap de Creus Natural Park. ‘Wildfire season’ is starting to become an irrelevant term. “I’ve lived here 16 years and this is the first time I’ve seen this,” says Steve Clifford, co-founder of Catalan Adventures, which offers activity holidays in the area. Their walking routes were temporarily closed due to wildfire risks; shuttling guests to new routes has been an expensive effort.
Should operators stop selling southern Spain in summer?
To write off Spain as too hot would be a dramatic oversimplification, but holiday operators need to reconsider how they sell trips to the country.
Some of Responsible Travel’s partners now discourage travellers from active holidays in high summer. Places like inland Andalucía, in southern Spain, can get furnace-hot in July and August. Regardless of climate change, responsible operators have always advocated for visiting off-peak – to bring money into the economy year-round and take pressure off over-visited sites.
To A/C, or not to A/C
Sustainable operators who would have never dreamed of using air conditioning in the past are now having to consider it in their properties.
Whilst guests might be asked to be vigilant with their windows, keeping them shut in the day, opening them at night, and running fans, even in northern Spain this might not be enough. “Once you have three or four weeks with the temperature above 30 degrees the heat is in the building and it’s difficult to cool it down,” Ana explains. As temperatures rise, there are fewer feasible alternatives to air conditioning.
“In fifteen years we never needed it,” says Fiona of her off-grid hotel, “but recently we’ve had to add more and more A/C units."
Early starts, shorter distances
To cope with the temperature beyond the bedroom, operators might suggest their visitors temporarily shift their body clock.
“If someone wants to cycle here in July or August I will explain that they will have to get up early in the morning so they can be back before it gets too hot,” says Fiona. Her guests have found that they enjoy getting their bike rides done early, so they have the afternoons to relax.
Guests might also have to be prepared for shorter walking routes in the summer – or days where they forgo the walk altogether and are shuttled to the next destination.
Climate consciousness
If there’s a kernel of hope, it’s that Spanish people, government and visitors are all adapting.
Previously marginalised responsible tourism practices are becoming more mainstream and in 2022, the Spanish Tourist Office launched its slow travel sustainability campaign.
Government directives are helping too. In 2022 legal restrictions on the lowest air conditioning and highest heating temperatures in commercial spaces came into force. More measures must come.
If we don’t want to lose every little beach, climate consciousness will simply become part of holidaying in Spain.
* responsibletravel.com/copy/eloise-barker
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