I’m writing from Sardinia, where the temperature is again almost 40°C. By lunchtime, the streets are empty. Even on local beaches, parents shepherd children from one patch of shade to the next before retreating indoors, because simply being outside has become uncomfortable, even unsafe.
This is not the sun-soaked fantasy that sold package holidays to generations of Brits. Together with the difficulties inherent in even getting here and the increasing summer heat back home, it is not difficult to understand that for many Brits, this is the first of what may be many staycation summers.
For families, flying is now an endurance event. Security queues, baggage restrictions, delayed departures, extortionate airport prices and post-Brexit bureaucracy all chip away at the excitement. The EU’s Exity/Entry (EES) System promises greater border security by replacing physical passport stamps with biometric tracking, but somebody forgot to include the customer experience. At Cagliari – bizarrely – families were pulled aside to wait even longer than the rest of us. For years we accepted these irritations because there was one overwhelming reward: guaranteed sunshine.
But what happens when the guarantee becomes too strong? Spain, Italy and Greece have experienced repeated 40°C summers, with wildfires becoming an almost annual feature. Many tourists are heading towards cooler destinations or avoiding July and August altogether, if possible. The era of carefree high-summer Med holidays is undoubtedly changing. Here, that 42°C heat was accompanied by a genuinely scary wind that felt like a hairdryer. The locals are worried.
