Luis Ortega I Redacción Andalucía, (EFE)
According to the State Meteorological Agency, in Andalusia, where its regional regulations prevent the holding of elections in July and August, significantly high temperatures are registered in the interior with maximums in Córdoba and Granada of 40 degrees, while in Jaén a maximum of 39 degrees will be registered and in Seville of 38.
The Cordoba capital opened its polling stations, adapted with portable refrigeration where it has been necessary, exceeding 25 degrees and with dozens of voters waiting to exercise their right. Inside, the prepared tables and their components breathe with relief but with expectations of a “long” day.
“I expected worse, I thought there was going to be no air, but we have air,” Rosario told EFE, who, although from Seville, acts as table president at the Córdoba Railway College on her first date with the polls and on a hot day to which “we are used to.”
First and last hour of the day
“We are going to be fine and I suppose that people will come first and then at the last minute,” ventures the young president, who is also grateful for the “cold, cold water” that is in this polling station and to which the people of Cordoba go so early for various reasons.
Rafael votes first thing in the morning “for work”, since he is a nurse and today it is his turn. “I don’t think there will be a lot of incidence due to heat,” he predicts, while María, retired many years ago, does it because it is “an obligation” and after 12:00 noon “there is no one to leave” the house.
At noon the temperature in Córdoba already exceeds 30 degrees and the breeze slightly mitigates a heat that is felt very dry in Écija (Seville), where its citizens seek shade to reach the schools that have been prepared conscientiously.
“The orientation of the classrooms where you vote has been changed. Normally voting was done in the south wing, but the tables have been moved to the north, so that it receives less sunlight and it is cooler”, Francisco, who has coordinated the distribution of space, points out to EFE.
He adds that air-conditioned units have been used as “libraries” and “water will be provided” all day. Cold bottles and fans are the best companions for Ecijanos, who take the opportunity to vote early and go “to the beach” for some, or “spend the day as well as possible” for others.
Less heat on the coast, between the urn and the beach
The situation is similar in inland areas such as Jaén and Granada, where it is also expected to reach 40 degrees and the queues at the doors of the schools are being the predominant note.
In some of the polling stations in the Nasrid capital, priority is being given to older people to vote and avoid the high temperatures outside, while in other polling centers the substitutes have had to wait for the constitution of the tables in case they had to occupy positions in other nearby points.
Although the day is also “hot” on the Andalusian coast, in areas of Almería the overcast sky has created a “humid embarrassment” that has encouraged voters to go to the polling stations early, where queues have rarely been seen in any of them.
In Cádiz, Huelva or Málaga, with lighter temperatures early in the morning but also suffocating due to the clouds, the proximity of the beach makes voters take it more calmly and the stamp of the day is the swimsuit and flip-flops with the envelopes in hand while waiting.
A holiday and electoral Sunday in the south of Spain that faces it with a heat that will rise throughout the day in the voting centers and that will move late at night to the headquarters of the different political formations. EFE