By Joe King
In the musical “My Fair Lady”, by Alan Jay Lerner and Friedrich Loewe, Professor Higgins, played by Rex Harrison, sang: “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the pl-ai-n”.
I’m not so sure whether that's the case at the moment, since it’s now raining big-style here in the mountains of the Serranía de Ronda in Andalucía. To be honest it’s raining everywhere in Spain, even in the Balearics and the Canary Islands.
But that’s good, as it hasn’t rained much round here in the last five years: the reservoirs are empty; rivers have dried up; crops have suffered; and, Heaven forbid, golf greens are turning brown.
That’s why the locals call this period of inclement weather “buen tiempo” (good weather). Why? Read on to find out.
Our Climate is Changing
We are all aware of climate change. We know that the Arctic and Antarctic ice is melting fast. Some forecasters have predicted that the Seychelles and other low-lying island groups will disappear as the ice cap melts. What about the Netherlands, where most of the country is below sea-level, protected from the sea by dykes?
We also know about desertification. Doom-mongers reckon that southern Spain will turn into a desert within 50 years. Blimey!
The climate here in Andalucía has certainly changed in the 15-plus years I have lived here. The largest Spanish region has lacked rainfall for the last five years, more or less. The embalses are nearly empty. There are hosepipe bans; water in some Costa del Sol towns is turned off at night; hotels along the coast have been banned from filling their swimming pools; and what about the golf courses that are abundant round here?
It's a real crisis: the latest olive harvest was poor and there are concerns about the quantity and quality of the 2023 vintage among the owners of the Ronda wine bodegas.
SUR in English
"Good" Wet Weather
So, the heavy rain we have been experiencing is more than welcome. Hence the description of the current weather as “good”.
Certainly, my fruit and veg are benefiting hugely, as are my lawns.
Shame about the Semana Santa (Easter) processions. Up to now only one of the nine scheduled pasos has managed to get out. The weather forecast for Good Friday doesn’t look promising for the processions either. Secret Serrania
So, the rain in Spain?
At the moment it’s falling everywhere, on the plain and in the mountains. In some regions the rain is falling as snow or hail.
The high mountains around here are covered in snow, eg Sierra de las Nieves, Sierra de Grazalema and Sierra de Libar.
Yesterday in Montejaque (near Ronda), 960 metres above sea level, we had a hailstorm. ¡Vaya!
© Joe King
Links:
The rain in Spain... (secretserrania.com)
Acknowledgements:
Pinterest
Secret Serrania
SUR in English
Wikipedia
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