If you were in Mallorca yesterday you will have noticed a particular quality of heat, as well as a sheltering sky.
Temperatures yesterday were an unusual 31° Celsius here in Felanitx, and even 34° C in Palma. The forecast for today again is for around 29 to 30° Celsius. No, this is not the start of Summer although it should not be long now. What happened is a meteorological phenomenon that sometimes occurs here in the Balearic Isles. Hot temperatures from the Saharan region are pushed to our shores for a day or two, before everything returns to normal.
My advice would be if you are out sunbathing to put on some decent suncream lotion, or better still, to sit in the shade for a bit, today. In my experience the Saharan heat can be more than a little intense, even in Mallorca.
The Sheltering Sky is the title of a 1949 novel by American author, Paul Bowles. The novel was made into a film in 1990 by Italian director, Bernardo Bertolucci. The Saharan sun yesterday made me think of both, the book as well as the film.
I do apologize for the spotty quality of today’s photo. It is a real photo, not retouched by Photoshop. And yes, I have to have my camera cleaned.
The photo was taken in Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 21st, 2009. The time was 18:18:15.
The Mallorca Photo Blog 
Beautiful photo! Can’t wait for Sóller… I’ll be there in 43 days.
Read in Sa Veu (Google Translate) yesterday about the unusual temperature:
“Never a day in May was so warm as today. The maximum temperature recorded during the day marked in history as the highest in the last 50 years, according to data collected by the station termopluviomètrica Sa Vinyassa. Joan Puigserver, his responsibility, as explained 38’2 maximum levels have been reported today that the temperature is higher than is known since 1964, the year that Puigserver is the first meteorological data Sóller. To this day the highest temperature in a month was in May of 2005, the month when the thermometer rose to 33’8 degrees.”
Have a nice weekend!