AFTER the second-hottest July this century and August lurching from extreme temperatures on one day – around 40ºC in the southern two-thirds of the country – to refreshing thunder storms the next, and September being one of the hottest months of the year, too, heading to the beach is not just indulgence; it's a necessity.
But one very occasional downside of swimming in the sea is that you may come across the odd jellyfish.
Know your jellyfish: This one is the Pelagia Noctiluca, Luminous Jellyfish or Mauve Stinger (photo: Hans Hillewaert/Wikimedia Commons)
They are not as common as the headlines would make you think – if there are lots of them, lifeguards will 'shut' the sea by hoisting a red flag, as they do when strong currents make bathing unsafe – so the risk of getting stung is actually very low, since you shouldn't be in the water with a red flag flying anyway.
In fact, you can get fined up to €1,500 if you do, and lifeguards are not obliged to rescue you if you ignore the flag and go swimming; but human nature is that if you've got the skills and you see someone in trouble, you'll dive in without thinking about it, so beach lifeguards will normally put their own safety in jeopardy for you.
This said, jellyfish stings are statistically far more common on Spanish beaches than they are walking down a city-centre street in the UK, so it's good to know what to do if you or someone else suffers from one.
Naturally, urban myths abound – no doubt you've heard about how you should urinate on the sting or squirt vinegar on it – so Spanish scientists have been working on these in order to help us sort the fake news from the genuinely therapeutic.
Depends upon type of jellyfish, and how to tell them apart
The National Research Council-affiliated Sea Sciences Institute in Barcelona (ICM-CSIC) says whether or not the old wives' tales are true depends upon the type of jellyfish: Some, it seems, can be treated with vinegar, but in other cases, it could make them much worse.
Jellyfish stings are not just a painful sensation – they're actually a tangible object and body part, which is left behind in your skin when they've attacked.
And it's crucial to remove all traces of the sting, all cells and tissue residue, from your skin, according to the report in the magazine Toxins.
You probably can't do this yourself, or not entirely, so you'll need someone who's trained – at least a first-aider whose course has included units on jellyfish stings.
Experts recommend rinsing the area with a solution which, in the case of the species known as Pelagia Noctiluca – the one that causes the most incidents on Mediterranean beaches, for example, and which is typically known as the Luminescent or Luminous Jellyfish, or the 'Mauve Stinger' in Australian English – this should never be vinegar.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com