Sleeping with a blanket in summer in Malaga: yes, it's still possible, and we'll tell you where

Sleeping with a blanket when the calendar marks the height of summer and the seaside thermometer rarely drops below 20°C seems like something from another territory. However, it's enough to leave the Málaga coastline behind and climb a little over an hour along mountain roads to discover the province's other climatic face: cool nights , improbable sheets, and that almost forgotten pleasure of draping a light quilt over your shoulders in July . Every summer, more travelers find it: Málaga also offers " anti-muggy " getaways where lows hover around 14-18°C and air conditioning is completely unnecessary.

The paradox is confirmed by official records. The tables from the State Meteorological Agency ( AEMET ) show that this Sunday, July 13, the minimum temperature expected in Málaga city will be 22°C , while in Ronda it will drop to 16°C and in Alfarnate it will remain at 14°C . " The altitude, the complex topography, and the abundant biomass explain drops of up to ten degrees compared to the coast; the Serranía de Ronda offers excellent climatic comfort levels during this summer period," summarizes José Damián Ruiz Sinoga, professor at the University of Málaga and expert in Physical Geography.

This thermal attraction is now an essential part of the domestic tourism industry. Lukas Hammer, owner of the El Ciruelo Loco rural house in Alfarnate, explains that every week he receives guests from Seville or Jaén looking to spend a couple of nights with the window open and the sheets pulled down . He adds that, between this property and another he owns in Riogordo, there can be more than ten degrees of difference in temperature, despite the short distance between the two municipalities. Nearby, Alberto Valdivia manages La Paharilla and praises his village year-round: "Here, the coolness isn't a stroke of luck; it's our normality; the thin blankets are never put away ."

In the other great capital of the outdoors , the Ronda Tourist Office reminds us that the city on the Tajo River already exceeds 300,000 overnight stays annually and maintains high occupancy rates beyond August. María Baltar, a Galician who has lived in Ronda for six decades, sums it up with irony: "When my grandchildren go down to the coast, they spend the night wandering around; here, in our jackets, we sleep like children ."

Blanket marketing drives a growing economy. Accommodations distribute blankets and light duvets in the middle of July , local textile workshops increase sales of summer quilts, and mountain terraces extend their hours because the breeze encourages people to linger. For visitors, there are routes designed to savor this contrast: the Alto Fraile viewpoint in Alfarnate, where the temperature plummets after sunset, or the evening walks across Ronda's Puente Nuevo , with illuminated views and a breeze that invites you to zip up.

Getting there is easy despite the closure of the A-397 between Marbella and Ronda: from Málaga city, take the A-357 and A-367 via Campillos to reach the Serranía, and the A-45 and A-92M to reach Alfarnate in about seventy minutes. " Don't forget a light jacket and a light blanket , in case ours doesn't fit," Hammer warns with a smile. With minimum temperatures expected to fall below 16°C in the Alta Axarquía and Serranía regions, and tropical nights confirmed on the coast, all it takes is half a tank of gas and a mountain bend to rediscover the humble luxury of sleeping snuggled up without leaving the province.