Acclimatising People and dogs, how difficult is it

It's a fallacy that people get acclimatised to the Spanish weather.....

We have lived here for 8 years and still suffer from the heat especially during July and August. 

This year has been very hot and even our Spanish neighbours have been complaining rather a lot about the heat "Mucho Calor hoy" they complain!!!!

I don't think that people get used to or acclimatise to the weather.

I've not got a dog but I feel sorry for them being made to walk about on the hot tiled paving. 

Steve 

Thank-you for your honest reply.

Hello:

Noone can acclimatised for hotter days (humity make feel arround 40º), real temperature never arrives to 35º.

How can someone to 5º or under 0º? In that case you can put a lot of clothes and install heat at home. For heat you can install air aconditioned and you dont go to the street when is so hot. I have a dog and I go with it before 10:00 and after 18:00

People live in hotter areas and they live (and even enjoy) summer.

Regards and you will be wellcome.

Acclimatising to the evenings is a problem. Temperatures don’t go below 25C at night during the summer months it’s very uncomfortable sleeping.

I was on the beach in Guardamar at midnight watching the fireworks last week, it was 28C  hot and sticky.

In the heat of August a 15 minute walk takes you 30 minutes and you soon learn  to wear loose clothing.

Fast forward to January and you’ll sit in your house with your thermals on, covered in blankets temperature can be 10C and Spanish houses are a nightmare to keep warm.

But the sun shines (most days) and that’s all that matters.

Lynn

If your thinking of Costa Blanca its definitely getting hotter in summer. After 4 years here and 40c last summer we decided to bring the dogs back to UK staying with family and they are loving it. The north of Spain would be a better move that's where we are heading when we get back. Other than that 6am walks in the woods around guadamar and find a shady spot in late evening but it's not pleasant for them . From October to may is fine for them but otherwise its 4 months of heat they are not comfortable with. Hope you make it here Spain has a lot to offer other than sun. 

Although not dogs, we have two ex-feral cats, who were obviously born here. They do not know what to do with themselves in this heat as they can’t take their fur coats off. They sit outside the door to our underbuild in the mornings, begging me to open it and let them in as it’s the coolest place. They’ve got a large cushion in the back of it where they can be found until about six in the afternoon. They don’t even want food atm!

There are lots of factors and lots of solutions. We moved house this year - from a terraced house in an enclosed square, to an open villa that gets breeze from the salt lake and has areas in the garden to chase the shade (or sun in winter). That has made a huge difference to our experience of the previous 3 years of living in Torrevieja. We have a cocker spaniel. We keep her groomed short in the Summer, and walk her early morning and late evening. We also dampen her with a tepid wet towel at the hottest time (4-5pm) and have a floor fan on the terrace that she can lie in front of if she wants to be outside with us, and keep the fan on in the shady lounge for her to lie on the floor inside. In the afternoons, we retire to an air conditioned bedroom for a couple of hours .. which is no great hardship! We installed a good air con unit which is very efficient, and has made little difference to our electricity bill - an it’s on for a couple of hours every afternoon and all night, set at a comfortable 24 degrees. Winter is the opposite, and we chase the sun. If you have the opportunity to create a sunny spot like a sunroom, or even a pergola, with glass sides or transparent plastic blinds, it doesn’t take long for the winter sun to warm up an enclosed space. In the house, we close off unused areas, and use the air con for heating, though we are considering a pellet burner this year. We also use an electric blanket, which costs next to nothing to run, and means we rarely need to heat the bedroom.

There’s no denying that there are extremes of temperature here, but to enjoy this lovely life and everything it has to offer, focus on solutions. The extremes are short in relation to the rest of the year, Good luck with your decision. 

we have bought a cooling mat it really works (even for humans ) my dog loves it

Wouldn’t be without mine.  —-  and I haven’t any animals !

Lynn