AS the record-breaking heatwave took hold spreading its tendrils from the Sahara into Europe, the Olive Press went heat chasing.

Just as storm-chasers like to get up close and personal with tornadoes and hurricanes, we went to death-defying meteorological phenomena and came up with a new one: the heat chaser.

Weather forecasters had already bandied about the possibility of Spain seeing 46C while still in the month of June, and we wanted to be there to feel it hit us in the face.

So we set out for Ecija, a charming Sevillian town of baroque spires affectionately known as the frying pan of Spain.

READ MORE: ‘Remain indoors as much as possible’: New Spain heatwave could reach 46C in ‘hottest June ever’

Located in the Guadalquivir Valley in a geographical depression that traps the oppressive inland heat, Ecija has registered temperatures of over 46C in the peak summer months before (ie. not June).

In fact, it is just down the road from where Spain’s all-time record heat of 47.6C, recorded in Cordoba in August 2021. 

“It’s criminal the heat that we have to endure here, but we manage,” Marga, Ecija resident born-and-bred, told the Olive Press.

READ MORE: UK heatwave is causing Brits to last-minute cancel holidays to ‘too hot’ Spain

During the peak summer months, as the sun inches its way higher into the sky, the Ecija residents scurry to the shadows.

The day starts full of life and activity. Tables and chairs go out on the broad central square, Plaza España, around 8am – when the temperature is only 30C.

The abuelos and the workers occupy the tables and queue up at the bar windows to collect their cafe con leches con hielo – ice coffee.

READ MORE: Barcelona records highest-ever June temperature – as investigation launched into death of female street cleaner, 51

The shops are open and people go about their business. But there are no tourists. 

Despite the abundant beauty of the baroque towers, the elegant palaces and the Roman mosaics, this is the off-season. It seems that heatwave tourism is not a thing in Sevilla province – not yet.

Even by 10.30am, people are sticking to the shade, creeping along the walls like the shadows they are sheltering in. It hit around 36C at this hour.

By midday, it’s a ghost town. It’s like a scene from one of those old westerns, in which everyone knows there’s a gunfight imminent and disappears behind their curtains – except for the Olive Press.

It’s not that we’re brave. We were just oblivious.

READ MORE: ‘It spiked by 3C in 90 minutes’: Weather expert casts doubt on Spain’s new 46C June record 

The hammer really starts to fall around 2pm, when it hit 40C.

The tables and chairs are still out – but no one is sitting on them. Instead, the citizens of Ecija can be found in the air-conditioned indoors.

“I was born here, I grew up in this – but obviously I suffer,” Tamara, 24, a waitress in the main square, tells the Olive Press.

“Fortunately no one sits at the tables in the plaza during the day so I don’t have to run about as much. But it’s still hard.”

READ MORE: Number of days over 40C by start of June in Spain doubled all previous days on record COMBINED

In the tightening grip of the heatwave, is this something new? The choral response from everyone we spoke with in the town was ‘no – it’s the same heat as always.’

Business as usual. But the heat has come earlier this summer, they concede.

In the afternoon, news comes through that Spain has broken its heat record for June – 200km to the west.

READ MORE: New provisional June record of 46C set in Spain as Portugal gets red alert and France and Italy fry in 40C

While they got 46C in El Granado, we didn’t get above 43C in Ecija.

It was still hot in the frying pan of Spain. But was it hot enough to fry an egg, as the old cliche went?

By 4pm the bars have all closed and the central plaza has been roasting in uninterrupted sun for over six hours.

Even to sit on one of the stone benches was enough to fry one’s behind. We procured an egg and cracked it onto the burning surface.

Did the egg white start sizzling? Did it whiten at the edges? Did the yoke harden? Long story short it did not. Instead we just had raw egg mess on a bench.

So it wasn’t record-breaking heat in the frying pan, but dealing with it was still a way of life. The town didn’t start to come back to life till after 9pm.

“Here, we live by night,” Jon and Mihail, a pair of Romanians gearing up for Saturday night, told the Olive Press. 

“Yes, it was hard to get used to at first, but it’s only two months a year.”

Given the premature nature of this heatwave, they might have to extend their endurance in the coming years.

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NORTHERN Spain’s Rioja region has been named Europe’s best destination for a holiday among the vines this summer.

Travel insurance experts Quotezone ranked the top wine regions across the European continent, including Rioja, Italy’s Tuscany and France’s Bordeaux.

READ MORE: Glasses raised for €100 million lottery win in wine-making La Rioja region of Spain

Ranked on several factors, including the average costs for a winery tour, a bottle of wine, and a three-star hotel stay, Rioja took the top placing.

Located below the Cantabrian Mountains, Rioja has a renowned local wine industry, with more than 65,000 hectares of vineyards growing across the Ebro Valley and surrounding the old town of Haro.

It’s Spain’s largest wine region with more than 600 wineries.

Enjoy summer festivals all about wine like the Batalla de Vino, and visit local bodegas where you’ll find small, traditional wine cellars, as well as major commercial wine producers.

There’s great summer weather with warm temperatures and a low chance of rain.

The prices are relatively low compared to other famous European wine regions, too, with an average winery tour priced at £19 and a bottle of wine costing an average of around £22.

Italy’s Piedmont and Tuscany regions take the second and third placings for the best European wine regions of 2025.

READ MORE: Move over Cava – sparkling Rioja is on its way

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EVERY culture has its tradition of proverbs.

Spain is no exception.

Here are ten examples of proverbs that you are likely to hear every day. They embody folk wisdom – the accumulated experience of many generations, and they also have a whiff of poetry about them!

If you are learning Spanish, why not memorise one or two of them? When you drop them into the conversation, your Spanish friends will be deeply impressed! life – along with their meanings and a little context to help you use them like a local:

1. Los años no perdonen

“The years don’t forgive”. It’s a way of saying, no-one escapes the ageing process, and we’re better off growing old gracefully.

2. Te conozco, bacalao

The full saying is “te conozco, bacalao, aunque vengas disfrao”. (“I know you codfish, even though you’ve shown up in disguise.”) The meaning is, ‘I can see through your pretence’.

3. No hay dos, sin tres

There aren’t two, without three. It’s a bit like the English saying, “troubles always come in threes”, but it applies the ‘rule of three’ to good things, too.

4. Hasta el cuarenta de mayo no te quites el sayo

“Sayo” is an old word, meaning “costume”. And the fortieth of May clearly doesn’t exist. What it means is, “Don’t cast aside your warm clothing until the ninth of June.”

5. No hay quinto malo

In a bullfight, there are traditionally six bulls. Fans of the spectacle say, the fifth bull is always good – “there is no bad fifth”. The great matador of Ronda, Antonio Ordóñez, liked a drink. He adapted this saying to “no hay tinto malo” – “There’s no red wine that’s unpalatable”.

6. En la viña del Señor, hay de todo

“In God’s vineyard, there are all types.” We need to allow for the eccentricity of others. It wouldn’t do if we were all the same.

7. A donde te quieran mucho, no vayas a menudo

“Where you are deeply loved, don’t go often.” That is to say, you will wear out your welcome if you show up all the time. Maintain your mystique by appearing sparingly.

8. Cuando hay hambre, no hay mal pan

“When there is hunger, there’s no such thing as bad bread.” If people are in need, they stop being fussy.

9. No hay mal que dure cien años

“There is no problem which lasts a hundred years.” You may be going through a time of troubles, but it will end.

10. Del dicho al hecho, hay mucho trecho

“Between the word and the deed, there’s quite a space.” Anyone can talk big: it’s more impressive if you can back up your claims with action.

READ MORE:

• LIFE IN SPAIN: The dark secrets behind Marisol – one of Spain’s biggest child stars
• LIFE IN SPAIN: Spanish surnames – why do they have two?
• LIFE IN SPAIN: Meet Lola Flores, the country’s most iconic actress, writes Michael Coy

Click here to read more La Cultura News from The Olive Press.