Costa Tropical Press Review 2026-08-23

Sunday, August 23, 2026

☀️ The Weather

Sunday dawns under a mantle of high, wispy clouds, a veil that filters August's light without robbing it of its warmth. The thermometers breathe gently, reaching a generous but unassuming high of 27.8 degrees, while a south-southeast breeze so light it barely brushes the awnings of the terraces accompanies a thick humidity of 85 percent that the sea makes bearable. The water, at 25.9 degrees, offers itself as a liquid caress, and waves of 18 centimeters sketch barely a sigh upon the shore. Waking beneath this veiled sky and this serene temperature is the undeniable privilege of this Andalusian corner.

📌 Météo des plages: Our beaches today receive a partially cloudy sky and an ambient temperature of 27.8 degrees, ideal for plunging into waters that mark a delicious 25.9 degrees. The south-southeast wind, at 6.4 kilometers per hour, barely ripples the surface, with waves of 0.18 meters. Sun protection is mandatory: the UV index reaches 7.4, a very high level. The clouds deceive; the radiation gets through.

☕ THE FIRST COFFEE

There is a different serenity this Sunday on the Costa. August is leaving behind its most fiery days, and the air smells of summer's end, of that blend of light melancholy and gratitude for what has been lived. The terraces fill slowly, with that rhythm of those who are no longer in a hurry to get anywhere.

But this morning, as the coffee steams in the cup, there is a word floating in the air of the region: relief. The tremors that for weeks kept the metropolitan area of Granada on edge have been losing strength, and on the other side of the mountain range, life is recovering its pulse. The earth, after reminding us who is in charge, seems to have decided to grant us a truce. And Sunday, generous, stretches lazily, inviting us to stay.

📖 FEATURE STORY

La Zubia, fifteen files and three homes that wait no longer

There is a moment in every emergency when the figure stops being statistics and becomes a face. In the seismic series that has shaken Granada, that moment has a municipality's name: La Zubia. Fifteen open files, three homes on the verge of demolition, and an entire community that has learned to look at its walls with different eyes.

The Provincial Council of Granada is already coordinating more than 220 operations in the metropolitan area from the Advanced Command Post installed in Churriana de la Vega. The provincial firefighters, with the support of municipal technicians, have prioritized the removal of cornices, chimneys, balconies, and railings at risk of falling. The strategy is clear: ensure that the next tremor, when it comes, does not find an enemy prepared to collapse onto the street.

Meanwhile, technicians are advancing the reports that will allow the works on the Social Centers to be undertaken through the emergency route. The goal: to speed up the return of the 77 residents of the Reina Sofía Psychopedagogical Center who were relocated to Huéscar, Huétor Vega, Maracena, and Fuente Vaqueros. Especially vulnerable people who have been transferred along with their professionals, guaranteeing the continuity of care. That is the silent part of the emergency: the part that does not make the headlines and yet sustains everything else.

Behind each file in La Zubia there is a family that slept in the car on the night of the earthquake, a shop that closed for three days, a grandfather who came down the stairs in the dark. The management of this crisis has shown that Granada knows how to respond: coordination between administrations, transparent information, and a culture of self-protection that has turned fright into a lesson.

There is still a long road ahead. The aftershocks continue, although weaker and more spaced out. The demolitions, rehabilitation, and aid for those affected will occupy the coming months. But this Sunday morning, while La Zubia takes stock of its cracks, all of Granada breathes and confirms that its foundations, the human ones, remain intact.

✍️ INÉS CARMONA'S CHRONICLE

The park that gives childhood back

The Parque de Los Telares in Motril premiered new swings this week, and with them, a different way of understanding the city. The rubber floor still smells brand new, the slides gleam like candies, and the families who for years demanded this renovation now see them swaying amid laughter.

Behind that everyday scene lies a political decision with a name of its own: Plan Reactiva Barrios. Seven million euros, 55 playgrounds, a commitment to return play to all neighborhoods of Motril. The tender for 26 new areas in squares, parks, and school centers, for 1.6 million, extends a promise that began to be fulfilled here, in Los Telares.

I pause for a moment on a bench and observe. A girl with braids defies gravity on the swing. Her mother pushes her with one hand and holds an ice cream with the other. Two grandfathers argue peacefully about the merits of the new fencing. There is something deeply human about a renovated park: it is the confirmation that childhood matters, that public space can be a place of encounter and not merely a place of passage.

Motril has understood that the future of a city is also written in its swings. And this morning, as the sun filters the light through the leaves of the plane trees, the children of Los Telares are already reading it.

🎭 CULTURAL CORNER

Flamenco lights up its last August flames in Almuñécar. La Caña Flamenca faces its final stretch with a lineup that is pure guarantee: Manuel Liñán, one of the most admired dancers on the current scene, accompanied by Arco, Alba Moreno, and Nani Cortés. Four names that have placed the name of the Costa on the map of the best Andalusian flamenco and that will bid farewell to the cycle in grand style.

And while the coast burns with duende, Sierra Nevada swaps skis for guitars. The Granada resort says goodbye to summer to the rhythm of its concerts, with the imposing backdrop of the peaks already beginning to tinge with the first ochres of autumn. Nature and music, a pairing that confirms the province knows nothing of rest.

🗺️ TRAVELER'S CORNER

Sierra Nevada dressed in green

Those who associate Sierra Nevada with snow and ski passes should go up today, in the middle of August, to discover its other face. The resort swaps skis for hiking trails that wind through Scots pines, meltwater streams, and meadows dotted with high-mountain flowers. The air, at these 2,500 meters, has that transparency that only great altitudes bestow.

The road climbing from Granada is already a spectacle: each curve reveals a new panorama of the valley, with the coast blurring on the horizon. Up above, the refuges offer the classic hot chocolate with sobaos, and the terraces fill with families fleeing the sultry heat of the plain. This weekend, in addition, guitars will set the soundtrack for sunset.

Wear comfortable footwear, bring water and a light jacket: up here, the sun embraces but the shade bites. It is well worth it.

🍳 CHARLY'S RECIPE

Mackerel in homemade escabeche

The oily fish of our coast deserves a tribute, and escabeche is the wisest way to honor it in summer. Clean six fresh mackerel from Motril and cut them into fillets. Lightly flour them and fry in extra virgin olive oil, then remove to a deep dish.

In the same oil, gently cook a julienned onion, two sliced garlic cloves, and a carrot in thin rounds. When tender, add half a glass of white wine vinegar, half a glass of water, a few red peppercorns, oregano, and a bay leaf. Let it boil for five minutes and pour the hot escabeche over the mackerel.

Serve cold, the next day, with a rustic country bread that does justice to the juice. It is the flavor of the Mediterranean preserved, tradition that needs no refrigerator.

🌆 AFTERWORK

Sunday fades slowly over the Costa, with the same leisure with which it dawned. The clouds tinge violet and the sea recovers its mirror-like silence. It has been an intense week: of tremors and responses, of new swings and guitars bidding farewell to summer, of a land that remembers its fragility and discovers its strength.

The week ahead will bring demolitions in La Zubia, works in Motril's parks, and the first preparations for autumn. But today, in the calm of the falling night, all that remains is to give thanks for the silence. Breathe. And remember that Granada, as always, rises. Tremor by tremor, step by step.

— Alejandro Ortega