Autumn in Spain! How am I meant to survive the cold now?

Madrid in the autumn time has been one of my favourite things about living here. Many of us at some point during nursery school have coloured in pictures of the different seasons of the year, and we usually coloured the trees in orange or red with some leaves that had fallen to the ground. It's safe to say that that was the "theoretical" winter that I grew up with, as we don't have an autumn season like that one in Mexico; the leaves do fall to the ground but not to the same extent, and the overall atmosphere becomes very similar to that of winter.

Well, in Madrid, you start to feel the arrival of autumn at the beginning of October, or at least I did when I was there in 2015. My flatmate had told me that she began putting the heating on at home in October the year prior, whereas this year, we only started using it in the middle of December, so that was really good news.

Which places should I visit in October?

I recommend that you visit as many of the city's parks as possible during the autumn time. I know that it may be difficult because it's at this time of year when it starts to get cold and, for those of us who come from warmer climates, it is usually difficult for us to leave the comfort of our duvets, never mind our houses. It's important that you take the opportunity to go to Buen Retiro Park in the autumn; I had the chance to go in the summer, and I have to say that the views in the park are much prettier now. It's 100% worth taking some time out of your schedule to visit it. I will leave a brief comparison below for you:

The university campus also changes quite a fair bit, with the fallen leaves usually covering the floor like a sheet and the trees taking on a reddish or orange colouring. Daylight savings time ends at the end of October and the clocks go back an hour, so now it will start to get dark from 6:30pm, which seems like a far cry from the typical sunset time falling at around 8pm or even later.

What do I do about the cold weather?

During my exchange, I have been able to make friends with people from many different countries, with some of them coming from northern Europe from countries like Lituania, Poland and Finland, for example. These friends tell me that us Latinos like to exaggerate and that we really don't know the first thing about real cold weather (they are absolutely right in saying this), so this criticism of mine can't be taken completely as gospel.

Electric or central heating?

As a foreigner (I am Latino), one of the first things that you must bear in mind when it comes to looking for a flat is whether it has heating or not (this is really important). There are two different types of heating that you will come across: the first is central heating, which is one used throughout the entire building and everyone agrees at what time it will be turned on and on what days, and is much cheaper; and the second, electric heating (which is what I have), which can be in your room, or in any place you want it really. One of the advantages of this type of heating is that you decide where you want to put it, when you want to turn it on, and, above all, it allows you to make your room warm; with central heating, you cannot always heat up every nook and cranny of your house. One of the biggest disadvantages, or at least in my case, is that the cost of electricity and light bills in Madrid are very expensive. I usually pay around 20€ a month, but in autumn and winter, the bill starts to increase thanks to the use of this type of heater.

Whether your budget is high or low, I have the same answer for you: Gran Vía. I really like this street for its architecture, for being a place of leisure, for being somewhere that you can find food to match all tastes and budgets, and, finally, for the endless number of clothing stores located along it. If you are interested in finding out more about Gran Vía, you can go to my profile and read the review that I wrote about this famous street.

One of the shops that we always go to when it comes to buying cheap clothes is Primark (I also wrote a review about this shop on my profile if you want to search for it). At this time of year, it is very easy to find things there, as they sell very warm pyjamas, sheets, gloves, vests, jackets of all types, and pretty much any else that you could ever need not to feel the cold.

If your budget is a bit more spending-friendly, you could go to Zara, Lefties, Stradivarius or Springfield, where I have also found a wide variety of wintry clothing. You will also find lots of shoes and winter boots in stores on Gran Vía.

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