Dust from the Sahara covers part of Spain and leaves an extremely unfavorable air

Madrid, 15 Mar The dust layer of the North African Sahara desert that covers part of Spain this Tuesday has left a mark of orange skies, mud rain and extremely unfavorable air, which have put several areas of the country on alert, including Madrid. Although this is not the first time that this phenomenon, known as “calima”, has occurred in Spain (in fact it is common in parts of the Canary Islands), it has not occurred with this intensity for several decades, so experts recommend moisturizing, closing windows, going out with a mask and limiting physical activity outdoors. While the arrival of suspended dust began on Monday in southeastern Spain, where the episode is most intense, it has spread to parts of the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean archipelago of the Balearic Islands and has left darkened skies - often tinged with a striking reddish orange - and noticeable layers of dust on houses, sidewalks and cars . The “haze” has also reached Portugal and parts of Switzerland, where the white of the ski slopes contrasts with an intense orange sky. And it is expected that, as it moves north, it will reach Holland and even northwest Germany. In Spain, the meteorological phenomenon is expected to reach its highest incidence tomorrow Wednesday and remain active until Thursday, so precipitation may again be accompanied by mud. In places where rain or snowfall drags dust to the surface - what is known as “wet deposition of dust” - it generates mud, a fact that, for example, has occurred in a town in the Sierra de Madrid, Cercedilla. In addition, this particular situation favored by the warm African wind in the storm “Celia”, which affects the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, has raised temperatures to 20 degrees or more in parts of southeastern Spain, in the middle of winter, according to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet). According to data from the Air Quality Index in Spain (ICA), the provinces of Murcia, Alicante, Albacete and Almeria (eastern and southeastern Spain) and those of Madrid, Guadalajara, Segovia, Avila and Burgos (central and north-central), among others, are “extremely unfavourable”, which in some cases has made visibility difficult. In the city of Madrid, the City Council has activated a special device to clean dirt that has dyed sidewalks, vehicles and street furniture orange. In Valencia (eastern Spain), the storm and the tongue of dust marked the beginning of the celebration of the popular Fallas festival, as strong gusts of wind have damaged at least two of the images and forced the traditional pyrotechnic shooting, the so-called “mascletá”, to be delayed until today. The health implications of breathing this air with small dry particles include an increase in the likelihood of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, warn the health authorities, who recommend that the elderly, children and people with respiratory diseases monitor symptoms and take measures such as wiping with a cloth damp surfaces inside dwellings where dust has fallen.