I’m Spanish and we use a clever method to keep the house cool without aircon

Temperatures in Spain can reach 45C in some parts of the country during the summer months, especially in Central and Southern Spain. According to a recent survey by property experts Idealista, only 41% of Spanish homes have air conditioning, which is why many Spaniards rely on traditional cooling methods to keep their homes cool during heatwaves and periods of extreme heat.

As a Spaniard, the method I’ve seen the most during the summer months is the “lockdown” or “blackout method”. To keep the house cool during the day without using air conditioning or a fan, people close the shutters completely in the morning (between 8am and 9am or as soon as they wake up), blocking the sun and heat. They don’t open them again until the night, keeping their homes in total lockdown during the day.

Most houses in Spain are equipped with exterior shutters that completely block the light; however, UK households can use this same method with curtains or blinds.

Travel experts at Spainwise said: “Keep blinds, shutters and/or curtains closed during peak sunshine hours but leave windows open at night and early in the morning so your room can cool down.”

On Reddit, Spaniards agree that this is the most popular method to keep houses cool in summer. One person said: “Open the windows in the morning until 11 or so. Then, close the blinds so almost no light passes into the house. And then, at night, open them again.”

Another one explained: “If your house is ‘cool’ when you wake up in the morning, and you close it up, it’ll be easier to keep the heat from coming in during the afternoon (or to keep the cool air in). Basically, it’s like the refrigerator door.

“And if the house has heated up in the afternoon but is still cooler than the street, then you keep it closed. At night, you open it, when the outside temperature is similar to or lower than the inside (apart from the fact that you can create drafts and have a better thermal sensation).”

A third one shared a very clever tip: “Do not, under any circumstances, leave your house in siesta hours. If you thought we are lazy, it’s because you didn’t spend a summer in my village. These hours are the hottest ones, you’ll face heatstroke.”