Date Published: 28/05/2025

Lorca prepares for scorching summer with new street awnings

With temperatures inching towards 40ºC, Lorca is extending the sun shades over more city centre streets

Temperatures are tipped to hit the high-30s in Lorca this week during what’s shaping up to be one of the hottest Mays of all time. As forecasters believe this is only just the beginning of a truly sweltering summer, Lorca City Council is getting out ahead of it by installing street awnings to provide some much-needed shade.

Over the last couple of days, council workers have been carefully checking that the 1,500 square metres of canvas that makes up the existing awnings in the city centre is in tip-top condition.

But Lorca is fully committed to its climate change adaptation initiative, now in its seventh year, which aims to reduce so-called heat islands by creating cooler, shaded corridors during the summer months.

So this year, in addition to the sun protection already in place on calles Corredera, Alporchones and adjacent streets, almost 400 square metres of cooling canvas will be erected above Pío XII, which will cover the street from the Casino to Zorrilla.

The budget for the entire project amounts to €104,345 and includes the costs of dismantling the old awnings from last year, installing the anchors and purchasing the wiring and tarps for the expansion area; installing the awnings this year; and dismantling and cleaning them after the summer. This project also includes supplying the necessary tarps to replace those installed in previous years that are in poor condition.

"It's worth noting that the retailers and hoteliers in these areas have told us how satisfying these 'shade oases' are and how well-received they are. Proof of this is that every year they request their installation and even the expansion of the covered areas with the aim of creating new shaded areas," Environment Minister, Santiago Parra, explained.

The sun awnings were first introduced when Lorca joined the LIFE ADAPTATE project and the results have been impressive. One recent local study showed an average reduction in air temperature between the sensors in the sun and in the shade of 5ºC, reaching a reduction of up to 9ºC at some points. Between the sensors that recorded the temperature of the sunlit ground and the ground protected from the sun by the awnings, an average temperature of between 10ºC and 15ºC was obtained, reaching more than 20ºC at some points.

This warming of the ground radiating towards pedestrians, combined with the temperature drop provided by the shade of the awnings, means that the thermal sensation for shoppers and workers is much lower in the protected areas compared to the sunlit areas.

The councilor added that "this drop in temperature and this thermal sensation not only occurs during daylight hours, but also once the sun has set, as the ground is cooler, the sensation of heat is less; benefits that have been confirmed both in the data obtained from the measurements taken and in the surveys conducted during the LIFE ADAPTATE project, and in the comments of pedestrians."

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Oficina de Turismo de Lorca

Lorca Tourist Office

The rich and extensive history of Lorca has left a legacy of archaeological sites, and historic buildings, around which the modern City has built its tourism industry. Amongst these are Lorca Castle, the Jewish Quarter of the castle and Synagogue, Lorca Tourist Office Plaza de España, Colegiata de San Patricio, Museo de Arqueologico Municipal, Iglesia de San Francisco, Casa Huerto Ruano, Palacio de Guevara, Iglesia de San Mateo, Pósito de los Panaderos, Convento Virgen de las Huertas, Antiguo Convento de la Merced, Iglesia del Carmen and the Teatro Guerra.

Unfortunately Lorca has also been prone to natural disaster, suffering a Gota Fría on September 28th 2012, as well as an earthquake which measured 5.3 on the Richter scale on 11th May 2011 and claimed 9 lives. Since this earthquake the city has been rebuilding, winning recognition for its Lorca, Open for Restoration initiative, which used the restoration of the city as a tourist attraction whilst it rebuilt its historical buildings, some of which are currently still not open.

Lorca Tourist Office The tourist office itself has temporarily relocated until the renovations are completed and is on Calle San Patricio near the church.

Lorca also has an area of coastline incorporating the Parque Regional de Cabo Cope - Puntas de Calnegre, in the Sierra de Almenara, which includes the beaches of, Puntas de Calnegre, Baño de las Mujeres, San Lorca Tourist Office Pedro, El Siscal, Cala Honda, Cuartel del Ciscar, Junquera, Cala de la Gruta, Cala Leña, Los Hierros, Cala Blanca and Playa Larga, although many are accessible only through agricultural exploitations.

However, in spite of its many attractions, the name of Lorca is synonymous with Easter, (Semana Santa) its biblical parades of International Tourist Interest status and famous throughout Spain. The week includes a Lorca Tourist Office series of parades in which the whites (Paso Blanco) and blues (Paso Azúl) try to outdo each other with the magnificence of their embroideries and the skill and daring of their horsemen.