Renfe has set aside €1,200,000 to work on improving five stations on the C1 Cercanías line from Malaga, including Plaza Mayor, Victoria Kent, Malaga Centro Alameda, Torreblanca and Montemar Alto. The projects are planned to deliver stations with better comfort, accessibility, safety and functionality for the over 28,500 daily passengers who use the 104 services on the line.

Upgrades progress at five Costa del Sol stations

Works already started at Plaza Mayor on July 6. Victoria Kent station activity is planned to begin in mid-July; Malaga Centro Alameda improvements follow later in July. Torreblanca and Montemar Alto will see works start progressively through the month. All sites stay operational during construction.

Focus on accessibility at Victoria Kent and Alameda stations

Victoria Kent is to receive attention to accessibility, lighting and safety in the concourse and on the platforms. There will be long-awaited works to replace damaged lights and glass, add better grip on paths, renew handrails with double grips and fit anti-slip strips on steps. Malaga Centro Alameda sees renewal of finishes; LED lighting, signage improvements, damp control and anti-slip stair features are also included in the plans.

Additional C1 route improvements underway or planned

Plans will eventually extend to other stations on the C1 route. Five halts are adapted for 100-metre trains, including Los Boliches, Carvajal, El Pinillo, Plaza Mayor and Centro Alameda. Benalmadena station platforms extend to 200 metres. Duplication of the track between the airport and Campamento Benitez is hoped to be better reliability. Other studies cover duplications in Torremolinos to El Pinillo and Benalmadena to Campo de Golf sections.

Capacity increase targets 60 per cent and 15-minute intervals

Ministry of Transport plans seek to raise C1 capacity by 60 per cent and cut train intervals from 20 to 15 minutes. Signalling and control system renewals are going ahead, and it is hoped that more than 14 million users will benefit from Malaga Cercanias improvements.

Alora double track restoration to increase capacity

Double track working returns in the Alora area from July 17 after repairs to February storm damage. One track reopened in April. Remaining tasks are to complete electrification, safety and drainage elements.

When temperatures soar above 40°C, it is easy to assume everyone is enduring the same relentless heat, they’re not. In today’s Spain, your postcode can determine whether your street is shaded by mature trees or surrounded by concrete that radiates heat long after sunset. It can decide whether your home stays bearable through the night or turns into an oven. 

And for a growing number of households, it can mean the difference between switching on the air conditioning without a second thought or leaving it off because the electricity bill is simply too high. As another intense summer grips the country, staying cool is becoming more than a matter of comfort. For millions of people, it is becoming another form of inequality.

The postcode lottery of summer

Take a walk through two neighbourhoods in the same city on a hot afternoon and the contrast can be remarkable. One may have tree-lined streets, shaded parks and green spaces that naturally lower temperatures. A few kilometres away, another may be dominated by concrete buildings, asphalt roads and very little shade, absorbing the day’s heat before slowly releasing it throughout the evening.

It is a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect, and it means some neighbourhoods can remain several degrees warmer than others, particularly after dark. That difference matters, night-time is when the body is supposed to recover from the day’s heat. But for thousands of families living in heavily built-up areas, the temperature inside their homes barely falls, making sleep difficult and increasing the risk of heat-related illness.

When staying cool becomes a luxury

For many households, escaping the heat is easier said than done. Spain has one of the highest rates of home ownership in Europe, but many properties were built long before modern insulation standards became the norm. Top-floor apartments, older buildings and homes with poor ventilation can trap heat well into the early hours of the morning. Air conditioning may seem like the obvious answer, but not everyone can afford to install it or keep it running during prolonged heatwaves.

Research in Spain has revealed a shocking divide. Households on higher incomes are far more likely to have access to air conditioning than those on lower incomes, leaving many families relying on fans, open windows or public buildings to find relief. As energy prices and the cost of living continue to put pressure on household budgets, staying cool is becoming a luxury that not everyone can afford.

More than an uncomfortable night

Extreme heat is often dismissed as an inconvenience, but its effects can be far more serious, high overnight temperatures prevent the body from recovering, increasing the risk of dehydration, exhaustion and heatstroke. They can also worsen existing heart and respiratory conditions, particularly among older people and those with underlying health problems.

Lack of sleep caused by persistently hot nights has been linked to increased stress, reduced concentration and poorer mental wellbeing, while families with young children often face days of exhaustion after another restless night. The danger is not always the blistering afternoon sun, sometimes it is the heat that lingers long after darkness falls.

Spain’s summers are changing

There is little doubt that Spain is becoming hotter, heatwaves are arriving earlier, lasting longer and pushing temperatures to levels that were once considered exceptional. Public health alerts have become routine, while local authorities increasingly open climate shelters, libraries and community centres to give residents somewhere to cool down.

But hotter weather is also exposing another reality, the people most affected are often those living in neighbourhoods with the fewest trees, the least green space and the oldest housing, where escaping the heat is far more difficult than simply stepping indoors.

A challenge that goes beyond the weather

Spain has always adapted to summer. Shutters are closed during the hottest hours, daily routines shift and life slows down until the evening breeze arrives, yet those traditions are proving less effective as temperatures continue to climb. The challenge is no longer simply preparing for another heatwave. It is ensuring that the ability to stay safe does not depend on your income or your address.

Because while the weather forecast may be the same for everyone, the reality on the ground is very different. For some, a heatwave means turning on the air conditioning and waiting for cooler days to arrive. For others, it means another sleepless night in an overheated home, another day searching for shade and another reminder that, in modern Spain, your postcode can have just as much influence on how you experience summer as the temperature itself.

Another summer, another wave of wildfires sweeping across Spain, as flames continue to tear through parts of the country, firefighters are once again battling extreme conditions, residents are being forced to leave their homes and communities are watching helplessly as landscapes they know and love are transformed into ash. Heatwaves, drought and strong winds are often blamed when Spain burns, and they are undoubtedly major factors. But there is another part of the story that is receiving increasing attention.

Spain’s forests have changed, years of rural abandonment, reduced forest management and the disappearance of traditional grazing have left large areas of countryside carrying far more vegetation than in the past. And when that vegetation dries out under the summer sun, it becomes fuel waiting for a spark.

A hidden problem beneath the flames

Wildfires do not become catastrophic simply because temperatures rise, they become catastrophic when there is enough material available to burn. For generations, Spain’s rural landscapes were constantly managed. Farmers cleared land, woodland was maintained and livestock moved through forests and hillsides, naturally reducing the amount of dry vegetation.

That balance has changed, as rural populations have declined and traditional farming has become harder to sustain, many areas of countryside have been left unmanaged. Fields have become overgrown, paths have disappeared and forests have become increasingly dense. The result is a landscape where fires can spread faster and burn with greater intensity than they once did.

The countryside Spain once knew is disappearing

The transformation has been gradual, making it easy to overlook, across rural Spain, villages that were once full of agricultural activity have lost residents as younger generations moved away. Traditional jobs linked to the land have declined, and with them many of the practices that helped keep vegetation under control.

What was once a carefully managed relationship between people and nature has become a challenge. Forests are essential for biodiversity, wildlife and the environment, but unmanaged growth can create dangerous conditions during extreme weather. The problem is particularly serious in areas where woodland sits close to homes and communities, creating the risk that a wildfire can quickly move from rural areas towards populated zones.

The return of Spain’s natural fire prevention team

One of the most surprising solutions comes from an old tradition, farm animals such as sheep and goats once played an important role in maintaining Spain’s landscapes. By grazing on shrubs and dry vegetation, they helped reduce the amount of material available to fuel fires. Today, as extensive livestock farming declines, many of those natural “firefighters” have disappeared.

In some parts of Spain, grazing animals are being brought back as part of wildfire prevention programmes. The idea is simple: reducing vegetation before summer arrives can help slow down fires when they eventually occur, tt is not a replacement for firefighters or emergency services, but it is another tool in preventing small fires from becoming uncontrollable disasters.

Why Spain’s firefighters face an increasingly difficult battle

Spain has some of Europe’s most experienced wildfire teams, supported by aircraft, helicopters and specialist emergency units, but even the most advanced equipment has limits. When fires enter landscapes filled with dry scrub and dense vegetation, they can become unpredictable and extremely difficult to contain.

Strong winds can push flames across huge areas in a matter of hours, leaving little time for communities to react, the challenge is not only putting out fires once they begin, it is reducing the conditions that allow them to become so destructive in the first place.

A warning Spain cannot ignore

The country’s wildfire crisis is not caused by one single factor, climate change is increasing the pressure on Mediterranean landscapes, bringing hotter and drier conditions. But the way land is managed also plays a crucial role in determining how severe the consequences will be.

Every abandoned field, every unmanaged forest and every loss of traditional rural activity adds to the challenge facing Spain during the summer months. Preventing future disasters will require investment in woodland management, support for rural communities and a rethink of how the countryside is maintained.

Because once flames are visible on the horizon, much of the damage has already been set in motion. Spain cannot stop every heatwave or prevent every spark. But reducing the amount of fuel waiting beneath its forests could determine whether the next fire becomes a contained emergency or another devastating wildfire. The battle against Spain’s wildfires may be fought with water and aircraft when the flames arrive, but it begins much earlier, among the trees.