What a summer, huh?
And the big Spain summer survey.
- What a summer, huh?
- Captain, it’s the first week of August.
After Spain’s World Cup glory came destruction and despair. The fourth (!) heatwave of the summer arrived before we said goodbye to July, posing a huge threat to the multiple ongoing brutal wildfires.
Ávila suffered the worst wildfire in the country’s history, with more than 50,000 hectares burned in just five days.
The map below shows the multiple wildfires Spain had to battle at once. In the area west of Madrid alone, close to 60,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes.
As Spain got the flames under control, it had a different kind of fire to put out.
More than 70,000 Moroccan migrants crossed into Ceuta, the Spanish exclave in northern Africa.
According to Cadena Ser, at least 141 people died.
The pile-on from the vast majority of EU countries on Spain was astounding, with the likes of Merz and Meloni jumping to conclusions that perfectly suited their political positions.
22 of the EU’s 27 member states signed a joint letter to Brussels linking the crisis to Spain’s decree to regularise half a million undocumented migrants, a scheme that ended up drawing 1.2 million applications. France, Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal did not sign the letter.
Italy, meanwhile, suspended the EU's border-free Schengen arrangements with Spain.
Who needs enemies and all that.
Alberto Alemanno, Professor of EU Law at HEC Paris Business School, wrote on X:
“Like many Europeans, I felt deep unease, not only at the deaths in Ceuta, but at Europe’s dehumanised response. EU leaders fell into the trap of treating the crisis as an invasion…By embracing this dystopian narrative, they turned desperate people into invaders, abandoned European solidarity and helped create the image Europe’s worst enemies want: a frightened, divided continent betraying its own values under pressure.
Ceuta did not threaten Europe. Europe’s response did.”
The Financial Times, on the other hand, took a different angle. They argued that the migration crisis at Spain's borders was proof that Morocco's King Mohammed VI could "outfox" Pedro Sánchez.
What a take for a tragedy in which 141 people died. What a way to dehumanise the dead.
The great Spain summer survey
After weeks of rolling crises, Spaniards could be forgiven for counting down the seconds to their holidays with more fidgety eagerness than usual.
In Ireland, where I currently am, August is one long Sunday night.
The dread of the post-summer routine hangs over the country, and there's a melancholy as we lament the evenings drawing in. That feeling has been more acute on recent summer visits home, after the GAA moved the All-Ireland hurling and football finals from September to July.
August in Spain, however, is peak summer, and the post-vacation blues don't hit for real until about the second Sunday of September.
“Guess what! The city is dead,” wrote Adrian Bono in The Bubble Newsletter guide to activities in Madrid this week. “Everyone’s gone until September.”
This week I came across El Mundo's summer survey and wanted to share some of the highlights.
The results show how Spaniards like to spend their summer vacation - and how those habits can vary across the political spectrum.
Here’s what stood out:
Money and timing
Spaniards will spend an average of €1,500 on their summer holiday this year.
September is the most preferred holiday month (31%), ahead of August (26%) - largely down to the cooler temperatures. That preference doesn’t translate into behaviour, though: most people who take summer holidays still take them in July or August, when schools are out and the rest of the country is off too.
38% say price is the most important factor when choosing a destination (which rules out San Sebastián for most). Climate comes second, at 23%.
67% choose a domestic holiday over travelling abroad.
75% travel by their own car, 25% use public transport.
Politics on holiday
Looking at the political spectrum, far-left leaning Sumar voters lead the way in preferring the north, at 63%, followed by centre-left PSOE voters at 55%. On the other side, far-right Vox voters prefer the south (53%), and centre-right PP voters lean slightly the same way (51%).
Asked which politician they’d like to go on holiday with, 50% said none. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo narrowly led the rest at 6.7%, just ahead of Pedro Sánchez at 6%.
30% of PSOE voters say they have more sex during the summer - nearly 10 points higher than Vox voters.
Beach, food, and drink
63% prefer the beach over the swimming pool.
62% prefer the Mediterranean coast over the Atlantic.
61% prefer gazpacho over salmorejo.
Ice cream preference splits the country almost exactly down the middle - cone (50.3%) versus tub and spoon (49.7%). Younger generations lean cone, older generations lean tub.
62% prefer a hotel over an apartment for their stay.
62% choose beer over tinto de verano.
When it comes to bull-related festivities during local fiestas, most Spaniards sit them out: 55% don’t participate at all, while just 9% get actively involved. Another 16% watch as spectators, and 18% say their town doesn’t hold them.
Downtime and disconnecting
34% say they spend part of the summer in their pueblo - the family’s ancestral village, often where parents or grandparents are from. A common pattern is a week at the beach followed by a week in the pueblo, often timed to coincide with the local fiesta.
42% say they read more than usual on holiday (and Spaniards are big readers).
42% say they wouldn’t take a call from their boss during their holiday.
61.5% say they’d rather live permanently at zero degrees than permanently at 40 degrees, chosen by the remaining 38.5%.
Rafa Nadal is the only sports star to pass 10% as a preferred holiday companion.
Photo of the week
Greetings from our family holiday back home in County Kerry, Ireland!
***You can support the research, translation, writing, editing, and newspaper subscriptions behind this content with a one-time contribution - gracias!***
Last call for next La Comunidad Mailbag: Settling in Spain
Have a question for the next Settling in Spain Mailbag? Submit your question(s) below and I’ll answer as many as I can.
Until next time amigos,
Brendan
Never a dull moment. Very surprised at many of the EU Countries reaction and callousness toward Ceuta. They are being manipulated. And a big shout out to the moderate left for having more summer sex! Who knew?!?!
Re: Item #18. See, this is why Spain is the best. Place. Ever. The people have got their priorities well fixed.