Tips on getting a good night's sleep in Barcelona's hot and humid nights.
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Barcelona has a wonderfully sunny and warm climate, but our close proximity to the Mediterranean Sea means, that it can be very hot and very humid.
That is fine, if you are on the beach or sitting outside enjoying a cool drink, but sleeping through the sticky hot nights can be very difficult.
Most old flats in Barcelona don’t have air-conditioning or heating. So how do residents of Barcelona cope with the heat? The way of tackling this problem, in the days before air-conditioning, was to simply to adapt.
It is only a bit too cold for a couple of months in the winter in Barcelona, and it is only a bit too hot for a couple of months. You adapt.
In the cold months the family would huddle together around the stove in one room and often close off the other rooms in the flat. For the hot sticky summer months of July and August, they would keep the blinds down, keep some cold gazpacho (cold Spanish soup) on the stove and stay outdoors as much as possible.
And of course the Spanish daily routine is adapted for the heat in a very practical way. The Spanish don't take mid afternoon siestas, just so that they can stay up half the night watching celebrities throw insults at each other on very late night TV talk shows. All the popular shows in Spain finish around 1.a.m. There is a better reason than that.
Taking a siesta in the afternoon, when the day is hottest and it's almost impossible to work anyway, gives you the energy to work later, when it's cooler. And it gives you the energy to be active into the night. Then you can go to bed later, around 1 in the morning, when it is cooler, making it easier to fall sleep.
Next morning you start a bit later. Nine or nine thirty is a common time to start work in Spain, not eight thirty like in northern European countries.
When it gets unbearably hot, usually in August, the logical solution is to take the whole month off and go on holiday, which is still what a large percent of Spanish families do.
So what some people regard as a lazy man’s lifestyle is really a tried and tested formula for living in a hot climate. It has worked for many years, long before Doctor Iwan Aircon brought his great invention to this country.
So, when in Spain do as the Catalans!
Air-conditioning is not always a popular solution. Many people are not enthusiatic at all. Air-conditioning is expensive. It is not very planet friendly and it’s not particularly healthy for many people. But there are many way to beat the heat without resorting to air conditioning.
Here are a few inexpensive and effective tips tricks to beat the heat and get you through the night in Barcelona.
The supremely simple "Shades down" trick
First of all it’s important to keep those hot sun rays out. Most people in Barcelona keep the blinds down all day all summer. Only northern Europeans, accustomed to feeble sun rays that hold no warmth of significance, dream of the sunlight streaming in every morning like a Star Trek transportation room. The rays of the sun in Spain are much stronger and keeping them out keeps the rooms cooler.
So keep those shades down!
You will also find that many Spanish flats have interior bedrooms with no direct sunlight at all, just a window out to an air shaft or courtyard. This might seem stifling to a northerner, but it’s cooler and quieter in the summer, not to mention warmer in the winter.
Of course when the mercury hits 30 degrees Celsius ( a million at least in fahrenheit! ) indoors at night, then you might wish you had bought that air-conditioning unit after all, or accepted the night watchmans job at Corte Ingles, but fear not! Here are the tips!
For most of the methods described below, remember to keep the door to your bedroom open to ensure proper air circulation from other rooms. Most of the methods below are dampness evaporating methods and air circulation is imperative. Just having a window open is enough.
The basically essential “Get a Fan, Man!” Trick
Perspiration, or sweat, is your body's way of cooling itself down. But if the air is very humid and moist, your sweat has difficulty evaporating. So nature needs a helping hand.
Get a small fan and put it beside your bed. A cheap box fan will do the trick nicely. You can get them at all major supermarkets or the white goods store Miro for 15-20 euros.
Most box fans have alternating speeds and rotating fans, so choose the lowest and quietest setting and position it on a chair next to the bed. so that it will gently and soothingly help your perspiration evaporate, which will cool you down and help you fall asleep.
Some fans have timers, so that you can use them to fall asleep. This is a good energy saving feature, but if it's a very hot night, then you will probably wake up in a couple of hours bathed in sweat, in which case you might want to leave the fan on all night.
Be sure that the fan does not blow directly into your face, which can cause sinus problems and keep the fan clean before to avoid dirt and dust particles blowing into your face.
Having a fan on will use some power, but nowhere the energy gobbling levels of air-conditioning.
The indispensably valuable “Damp sheet” trick!
Use cold water to soak a thin bed sheet. Then wring it either by hand or in the spin-dryer of the washing machine. Hang the sheet in front of a fan to boost the cooling effect of the fan. This creates an "MacGyver " style evaporation cooler device that will cool your room down for an hour or so while you fall asleep. It's a simple homemade air-conditioner and uses little energy. And the planet thanks you!
The fiendishly efficient “Damp Sheet” trick v. 2.0
For even better results place the fan in an open window, so you are blowing cooler air from outside into your bedroom onto the moist sheet. Make sure the fan doesn’t fall out of the window though. That would not be cool!
If you can’t hang the sheet in front of the fan, then just drape the moist cotton sheet over yourself and position the fan so that the breeze is blowing gently over you. This will have the same evaporating effect for a good while and should certainly cool you enough to help you fall asleep.
The ingeniously crafty “Wear a Damp Garment” trick!
The reason that our mothers kept telling us to put a hat and gloves on when it was cold outside, is that heat loss primarily happens through the head, hands and feet. The average adult loses 30% of body heat from their head alone.
Just reverse your mother’s advice and try and keep your head cool, not hot! You want to lose heat from your head, hands and feet, because it will lower the overall temperature of your skin and body
This is why the pith helmet was invented. Not to make natives of hot countries die laughing, because of a very silly shape, but it is designed to keep the scalp cool in a hot climate.
“The pith, or cork, of certain trees lent itself as the basis of a headgear that was strong and protective and at the same time lightweight and comfortable. Furthermore, the absorbing property of this natural material provided the bonus feature of allowing the wearer to immerse the hat in water keeping him or her cool during evaporation. “
Don’t wear a safari helmet to bed, but do try wearing other damp garments.
Find a thin T-shirt or tank top, thin socks or a sports wrist band. Rinse these items in ice cold water. To get the water cold use ice cubes or put a bottle of tap water in the fridge just for this purpose.
Then wring the garments out so that they are still moist and wear them to bed with the fan gently blowing cool air over you. Ha! I hear you laughing now, but you will be thanking me in the heeeeaaat of the night!!!
Basically the evaporation from these damp garments will help to keep you cool your body down for long enough to let you fall asleep.
Of course you might get so tired from all the exercise that you will fall asleep no matter what the temperature is!
The devilishly brainy “Sticky Out Feet” trick!
This trick is as simple as it is clever. Sleep with your feet out from under the sheets, which will let body heat will escape via your feet. It should be used in combination with other tricks on a very hot night though.
The incredulously uncomplicated “Frozen Water in Bottle” trick.
Try filling a big plastic bottle with water. Don’t fill it completely or it will split. Water expands when frozen you will recall from your school days. So ¾ full and then put the bottle in the freezer. Stand one or two of these frozen water bottles right in front of the fan and you might take a degree or two off the fan’s cooling air!
So simple yet so efficacious in every case! Where do we get these tricks?
The beguilingly thrilling “Sleep Naked” trick.
This trick works quite well, especially with a fan involved, but it only works if you are alone and thinking cool, crisp and pure thoughts. Avoid any other thoughts because physical bodily exertions will only make the blood pump faster and boiling blood is absolutely the last thing you want if you want to stay cool on a hot night! Also if you are a sleep walker remember to keep the blinds down!
The unoriginal but gratifying “Cold Shower” with “leave hair wet” trick
Have a refreshing cool shower. Then leave your hair wet. This works best if you have hair. If you don’t have hair, that’s actually even better, because that is automatically cooler. If you have long hair, then consider getting short hair for the summer. The shorter the hair the cooler your scalp and so the cooler the body.
The forthrightly fabulous “Cold water in hot water bottle” trick
Fill a hot water bottle with ice cold water and leave it the fridge. When it is freezing, not frozen, place it by your feet in bed! Or under your pillow. Or both! Delicious!
A strange but similarly effective method is to make a ice cold Rice sock compress. Visit the link below to see how that is done. Note that they stress that a clean sock is necessary. If you use a dirty sock, the fumes could kill you, when the sock heats up. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Rice-Sock
The luminously powerful “Small Pillow” trick.
Like we said. The head is the hottest part of your body and needs to be as cool as possible. A smaller and less comfy and soft pillow will allow much more air circulation around your head. Try an embroidered sofa cushion, a piece of wood (that’s what they use as pillows in Africa my amigos!) or try a japanese buckwheat cushion.
This is not in fact a japanese buckwheat pillow, but the lesser known "Japanese lap nap pillow!"
The immensely but improperly popular “Sleep Around” trick!
We don’t mean sleep somewhere else with someone else! Just sleep somewhere else in the flat, where it is cooler until the very hot nights have gone. Heat rises folks. Stand on a chair and check the temperature near the ceiling if you don’t believe us. So sleep on the floor!
The old flats of Barcelona often have tiled floors because they are much cooler in the summer (and downright freezing in the winter!). So take advantage of that and sleep on the tiles. It will be much cooler. Not directly on the tiles unless you are a hardened camper or scoutmaster, but you could got to Ikea or the local mattress store (colchon) store and get a cheap foam mattress that is still comfortable, but much thinner.
The walls of a flat or house absorb heat making it warmer inside. So sleep outside if you can. Even when the temperature peaks at night, it will always be cooler outside than inside. Or sleep on the balcony or terrace if your have one. A cheap mosquito net will keep the bugs away.
The swinging and swaying “Sleep in Mid-air” trick.
You don’t have to be a magician to do this one. Buy a hammock and sleep in it! No abracadabra needed. A mattress absorbs your body heat and keeps you hot. That’s why you can go to sleep feeling cold and wake up feeling really hot. Your mattress is hotter because of your body temperature. Hot humid weather makes you sweat and the moisture between your body and the mattress will have difficulty evaporating.
Snoozing the night away in a hammock will let the air flow freely around your entire body. Much cooler. Don't combine naked sleeping trick with hammock trick. You might get rope burns in awkward places!
The painfully obvious “Don’t Get Sunburn” trick!
Stay out of the sun! At least don’t stay in the sun too long. Sunburn makes the job of heat dissipation almost impossible. You will never get much sleep if you are sunburnt.
The delicately cunning “Free Air Conditioning” trick.
Well, almost free. Go to the late show at the movies. It’s not really free because you have to buy a movie ticket. Cinemas in Barcelona have excellent air-conditioning ! Pick a really boring movie in a language you don’t speak at all, and you will get a good couple of hours sleep. Avoid action movies!
Final tips to stay cool in the summer.
Remember to stay hydrated at all times. It is easy to overheat and a lot more difficult to cool down your body once you are in an overheated state
Your body needs lots of fluids to keep its cooling system working. So drink lots of water even when you don’t feel like it. The recommended intake is about 2 litres a day. Stay away from sugary drinks, sweets, caffeine, and alcohol. They will dehydrate you.
Have a big drink before going to bed, and keep a bottle of water by the bed or a thermos with ice cold water in it, so that you do not dehydrate at night.
In extreme heat conditions, and it does get pretty hot in August in Barcelona, wear as little as possible as home. Or nothing! Another good reason to keep the blinds down!
If you must wear something, then choose loose, flowing clothes that help with air circulation. And make them light-coloured. That’s what people who live in deserts do and there’s a good reason for it! It’s cooler.
Food wise we recommend eating fruits like apples, watermelons etc. They contain water and keep you well hydrated
Don’t cook so many hot meals in the hottest months. Cooking adds heat to the flat and to your body. Whiz up the blender and get some cold soups and salads going and how about some refreshing fruit smoothies. Yum. Healthy and cooling.
That’s all the tricks and tips we have time for today. Hope you find some of them useful. Write to us and tell us if any of them actually work.
Remember that fans work on electricity, so we take no responsibility for anyone educationally challenged enough to even think of using electric fan near a cold bath. FAN + BATH = BAD IDEA! That is not evaporation but incineration. Different result entirely.
Use your common sense (sentido común) and you will be fine.
Perspiration, or sweat, is your body's way of cooling itself down. But if the air is very humid and moist, your sweat has difficulty evaporating. So nature needs a helping hand. 
“The pith, or cork, of certain trees lent itself as the basis of a headgear that was strong and protective and at the same time lightweight and comfortable. Furthermore, the absorbing property of this natural material provided the bonus feature of allowing the wearer to immerse the hat in water keeping him or her cool during evaporation. “ 
