No AC needed. How Comares stays 20 degrees cooler than the heatwave outside

While the rest of Spain melts through another heatwave, this small hillside village has been staying comfortably cool for generations without needing fans or an AC unit. Spanish broadcaster TVE recently featured the village, showing exactly how.

Walls up to a metre thick do the heavy lifting

Comares sits high in the Axarquia, and its houses were built long before electricity existed, using thick stone and clay walls that in places reach up to a metre across. That mass soaks up the cool night air and holds it there, so heat takes hours to work its way inside. By the time it does, the sun’s already dropping again. It’s a trick builders here have relied on for centuries, and it still beats most modern insulation.

Why every house is painted white

Drive up towards Comares and the whole village glows white in the sun. That’s not just for image. White walls bounce back a huge amount of solar radiation instead of absorbing it, which keeps the stone from heating up in the first place. Add in courtyards full of plants, and you get shade and moisture doing exactly what a fan would, minus the electricity bill.

Streets built for soldiers, perfect for shade

Nobody designed Comares’ narrow, twisting streets with summer holidaymakers in mind. They were laid out for defence, centuries ago, but that same layout means direct sun barely reaches the ground for most of the day. Air moves through the gaps between buildings too, so a natural breeze tends to find its way through even when it’s still outside.

Ana Martin, who works in tourism for the town, told TVE that none of this is accidental; it’s the result of generations adapting to a punishing Mediterranean summer, and it still works. Locals Maria and Teodora backed that up on camera, saying their homes stay noticeably cooler inside than the streets outside, even during the worst of the heat.

Old houses, modern lesson

Energy prices are climbing and summers getting harsher, this village that’s been escaping this problem for hundreds of years might be worth paying closer attention to.