'La Vuelta'

It's the end of the summer season and this weekend will see one of the biggest traffic operations of the year as thousands of Spanish holidaymakers leave the Costa del Sol and head home

Jennie Rhodes

Malaga

Friday, 30 August 2024, 13:11

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It's the end of the summer season and this weekend will see one of the biggest traffic operations of the year as thousands of Spanish holidaymakers leave the Costa del Sol and head home, typically to places like Jaén, Cordoba and Madrid.

Of course, it's not just Spanish tourists, but foreign ones too, who will be heading for the airports and back to school, work and the daily routine, or 'La Vuelta' - the return - as it's known in Spanish.

Many towns along the coast have end of summer parties and it has become customary in Torre del Mar to thank the tourists with a piece of giant cake baked by a local chef and designed to promote local customs and gastronomy.

Teachers, school pupils and university students begin to think about 'la vuelta', but they're not the only ones returning to somewhere. What is noticeable, at least in my corner of the Costa del Sol, is that the tourists in July and August are still predominantly Spanish. Many foreign residents return to their own countries and will be starting to trickle back now that the intense heat begins to melt into slightly cooler temperatures of September and October.

While summer is in its final throes across Europe for this year, we know that, really, we still have another two months of it here in southern Spain.

There's no need to pack away your shorts and T-shirts until the end of October... and for some warm-blooded folk, they never get stored away. It's not that uncommon to see people (mainly foreign tourists) outside in summer clothes in the middle of winter here.

But there are already reports of possible thunderstorms and changes in the weather as September approaches. Let's hope so. Although there has been the occasional surprise downpour, albeit accompanied by hot, sticky humidity.

There appears to be an embargo on talking about the drought in summer and swimming pools have been filled, water parks enjoyed and of course endless showers will have been taken in an effort to cool down.

But, now that July and August are over, I forecast a return to stories about the drought, how much the reservoirs have gone down during the busy high season and how we now all need to start praying for rain.

September is going to mean 'la vuelta' to school, to work and to the Costa del Sol for the foreign residents who escape the heat of summer by heading home. And without a doubt, it will see a return to the conversations about the drought. Let's just hope the rain decides to return soon as well.

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