It has been an atypical summer in Salou, with fewer tourists and less business. "We started working really late, it's a strange August", laments Marcel, owner of the Di Mare Beach snack bar, one of the most popular on the most frequented beach in Salou (Levant). No one would say that if he had landed on the Costa Dorada yesterday, with tourists queuing at noon to taste a mojito, a cane or any refreshing drink. An oasis
Most of young French people with thirst and heat. "Four mojitos without alcohol". With the thermometer climbing above thirty-four degrees, under a scorching sun, mojito in hand and short walk to the hammocks and the parasol. "What a bad face you're making!" jokes a native customer to the guy who is in charge of accommodating the tourists in the endless row of sunbeds and parasols. Isma doesn't stop, sweats a lot and, understandably, has a face that few friends have. Asking him to also smile is offensive and shows a great lack of empathy.
The formula for success, a mojito (or more than one) at nine euros per unit plus a hammock with parasol at eight euros for the whole day. A bargain Aisha and her friends parade around with mojitos and settle in their hammocks, which also have a table to put the glasses on. Everything goes straight. Happiness is sometimes a simple and refreshing desire.
"The fan spits fire", says Clara, a friendly, smiling and efficient bar waitress. He keeps serving drinks. It is his second summer in Salou. Originally from Zaragoza, but settled with the family in Reus, she dominates the trade. "Things have suddenly become lively, it seemed like a calm day". In the queue, patients, like anesthetists, English, French and Spanish tourists.
A dozen catximbes are waiting for customers. Inhale more the smell of mint. "Who wants to smoke a hookah in the middle of a heat wave?". Five minutes pass and a Frenchman asks the price of the hookah. "They are distracted. The French: catchimbes and Nestea," says the waitress.
Ricardo smiles and prepares mojitos. “Hot? We are used to it." And keep mixing lime and mint. "In one day we can prepare 400 mojitos. And there are days we cut short", he explains. "Mojitos are disappearing", they joke.
Away from the sand, on the promenade terraces, many empty tables at noon. Menus on offer and hunt for customers who can't find tourists. "With this heat there are many tourists who stay at the hotel pool", reasons an experienced restaurateur. First evidence With heat peaks, you drink more than you eat. Second: it is not being a good summer, with difficulties to reach full occupancy in hotels on the Costa Daurada even though it is August, the peak of the high season.
In the small supermarkets scattered along Salou's promenade, fridges full of ice packs and intense sales of soft drinks and ice cream. No one goes for a walk in the early afternoon without drinking or eating something refreshing.
At a point on the popular Paseo Jaume I, the smell of churros. It's not a hallucination. A veteran churrera braves the elements and fries up a few churros. "Who wants to eat some churros in this heat?". The heat animates a bad summer and fuels magical realism. "I want four euros of churros with sugar", asks a holidaymaker from Navarre with her two granddaughters.
At the taxi stand, queue of tourists with bags and suitcases. The heat is hotter when the holidays are over. A few meters away, a mother and teenage daughter, from Logronyo, fill two liter bottles with water from a spring. Then they throw the water over them, in the middle of the street, clean the sand and salt and go home. "Mom, can you take a picture of me while I throw the water over me?". The mother, appraiser. "Girl, are you stupid?"
The very drinking fountain becomes a footwash. Disturbing image. "Goodbye!" On the beach, the showers and foot washes work at 50%. There are queues. In the sea, a happier world with half a dozen pedal skates with slides in front of the sand. Outside the sea, the bad mood and the heat are chewed. "Carlos, are we going to have a mojito?".
