As Med temperatures soar, prepare for underground hotels and air-conditioned beaches

Telegraph

27-07-2025

With fans whirring and paddling pools filled across Britain, it seems strange to contemplate going somewhere even more sweltering to sightsee, or even just lie on a beach.
But summer holiday tourism remains big business, despite unbearable temperatures becoming a regular occurrence across mainland Europe (in June 2025, it reached 46C in parts of Spain).
According to figures from the European Commission, more than a third of all overnight stays on the Continent booked via online platforms in 2024 were during July and August. Faced with an influx of tourists and increasingly high temperatures, some countries have already been forced to take drastic action.
At the beginning of July, with temperatures set to reach 38C in Athens, Greece's Ministry of Culture shut the Acropolis for the safety of staff and tourists, something they'd already been forced to do during 2024.
In a sweltering France, the summit of the Eiffel Tower closed too. In years to come, operators, authorities and resorts will need to do more to keep holidaymakers cool, happy and safe. But what might that involve?
New horizons
Some operators are turning their back on the hottest destinations altogether. In February 2025, Accor announced that it was shelving plans to build new Fairmont and Raffles resorts on Mykonos, citing concerns over fires and water shortages.
As areas such as northern France and Spain begin to seem more appealing, expect further development away from the Med's hottest points: a Raffles hotel is set to open on Lake Como in 2027.
Tourists are already swapping Spain's southernmost reaches for the slightly cooler, lusher Costa Blanca.
It means destinations such as Alicante are experiencing a surge in interest and could see a renaissance among British tourists.
Cold comforts
For hotels, just whacking up the air conditioning isn't the perfect solution to keeping guests cool. It will drive up their electricity bills, put a strain on local power grids and increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Instead, some are exploring innovative ways to keep out the heat. At Crete's Tella Thera, a chic boutique hotel set to open in summer 2025, suites are semi-subterranean so they remain naturally cooler. Rooftop gardens act as natural insulators, reducing the heat absorbed by the buildings, and corridors are partly open to the elements for natural light and breezes.
Developers could also look to the east – where innovative solutions to stifling temperatures have already taken root – for inspiration.
At Singapore's Park Royal Collection Pickering, 3D-modelling of wind flows and sun paths influenced the building's design while 50 types of plant flourish on the jungle-like facade, helping to keep interior temperatures down while improving air quality and encouraging wildlife.
Other cooling devices are fast becoming de rigeur, from lobby misting systems to shady outdoor areas. For Iberostar, which has 120 hotels including several in the Balearics, 'strategically incorporating plants and shading elements in outdoor areas serves as a passive measure to combat the 'heat island' effect,' says Álvaro Sánchez, the brand's Director of Product Sustainability.
' This creates noticeably cooler environments. The benefits extend beyond just outdoor comfort; by cooling the immediate surroundings of the building, we reduce the amount of heat transferred indoors. When this strategy is combined with façade designs featuring shading on the most exposed orientations, the result is a substantial reduction in the amount of energy required for air conditioning.'
The brand also maintains cool common areas, provides fresh, infused water and schedules activities for less stifling parts of the day – or for air-conditioned rooms.
Inside track
Realistically, holidaymakers may spend more time indoors in the future. In Dubai, a tourist city built for the heat, many of the must-sees were designed with the desert climate in mind – from the icy indoor slopes of Ski Dubai to the imagined sunken city of Deep Dive Dubai, housed in the world's deepest (indoor) pool.
Though it would require significant investment, it's easy to see how Europe's balmiest regions – where water parks and other outdoor attractions have traditionally thrived – may choose to go undercover.
Indoor versions of mini-golf and go-karting have already hit Europe's major cities, so it's safe to assume they're coming to coastal resorts soon. The reopening of the Costa del Sol's Tivoli World theme park (which closed in 2020 and is scheduled to return in 2028) will bring a new mall with air-conditioned attractions alongside its outdoor rollercoasters.
Spain already does malls like nowhere else on the Med. Just outside Granada, Nevada Shopping rivals its Middle Eastern cousins with 120,000m2 of outlets, restaurants and palm-fringed atriums. There's bowling and a pirate-themed amusement park too.
Night walks and air-conditioned beaches
Long lunches and indoor activities are the norm for Greeks and Spaniards during the summer months, with early mornings for beach walks and swims and evenings spent embracing the night breeze.
For those determined to visit in summer, a shift in routines may be required to avoid the hottest parts of the day. Aware that being inside would benefit tourists too, Madrid has launched Refúgiate en la cultura, an annual summer programme which began in 2024 and includes free flamenco shows in the air-conditioned splendour of its most popular museums between 3pm and 5pm.
In Cyprus, an outpost of the kid-friendly Paradox Museum (which has branches in London, Paris and Barcelona) opened in a shady cultural centre in Limassol in 2023.
More far-sighted museums and cultural centres may be setting up seaside branches soon.
As for sports lovers, at Mark Warner Resorts, tuition sessions are already scheduled outside the hottest parts of the day and kids' clubs are air-conditioned. The increasing popularity of padel and climbing coincide neatly with a need to keep active types inside at those times too.
But there may be some hot-weather solutions deemed too extreme for European tastes. Time will tell whether air-conditioned beach cabanas (offered at Atlantis The Royal in Dubai and The Venetian Las Vegas) or fake drizzle-filled roads (such as Dubai's Raining Street, which is kept at a constant 27C, will catch on.
It's not just holidaymakers who need respite from extreme temperatures. Hospitality staff in kitchens, restaurants and outdoor jobs are at risk of illness when the gauge rises.
Following the death of a street cleaner in Barcelona in July 2025, trade unions are again calling for EU-wide legislation to protect workers from extreme heat.
It means more attractions may be shut down when temperatures rise in the future, as employers protect both their staff and visitors from its effects.
A plan for all seasons
With unsustainable summer visitor numbers firmly on their minds, tourist boards have been working on lengthening the season in some of Europe's most popular destinations for a few years. In Ibiza, where the season used to begin at the end of June and shut in September, October half-term is becoming a sleeper hit with families.
Skyscanner has already noticed a lengthening of the summer season to include June and September. And, for those with school-age children, it's reasonable to expect that summer holidays might become Easter or October half-term ones in the future.
After all, mooches around the Las Dalias hippy market and lunches at the island's beach clubs are more enjoyable later in the season, once temperatures have dropped and the crowds have gone home.