The solano is an easterly to south-easterly
wind, a regional variation or extension of the
sirocco that refers to the relative position between the
North African coast and southern
Spain and not any of the other countries around the
Mediterranean Sea. In the spring and summer, from June to September, it carries hot air, often with rain and sometimes with dust, from the African coast over the
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
and the
Andalusian plain, affecting cities such as
Seville and
Cádiz.
Its dampness was commonly thought to induce discomfort and exhaustion, to the point where the Spanish believed that one must "ask no favor during the solano" (because no one would want to help) and that only pigs and Englishmen are immune to its ill effects.
References
Winds
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pl:Solano